About 100 people turned up to the official launch of a campaign that aims to replace finger prick blood testing with painless monitors.

Members of the public were given insightful talks organised by parents leading the Monitors4Kids initiative and the Manx Diabetic Group which is providing its support.

The talks highlighted the need for continuous glucose Monitoring (CGM), which are not available on the NHS in the Isle of Man.

MHKs including Rob Callister, Dr Alex Allinson, Daphne Cain, Chris Thomas and Julie Edge were were also present at the event held at Cycle 360 in Douglas on Thursday.

Onchan MHK Rob Callister said: ’To be perfectly honest we shouldn’t need a fund raising campaign for these items, they should be free of charge for kids.

’I definitely walked away with a better understanding of type 1 diabetes and the daily issues which people face.

’The campaign definitely has my full support and I hope the Department of Health and Social Care seriously considers making these monitors available through prescriptions.’

One member of the Monitor4Kids committee who has type 1 diabetes herself said the monitors would be a ’game-changer’ for kids.

Anna Clarke-Smith, who was diagnosed at the age of five, said: ’These monitors are life-changing. In terms of moving forward it’s a big step in the right direction and they do make a big difference. The monitors help to provide independence and allow individuals to monitor their diabetes better.

’There’s a certain CGM called the Libre monitor run by Freestyle which is on prescription on the NHS in the UK. However it’s not in the Isle of Man. It’s different than the Dexcom CGM which is not on prescription in the UK or the Isle of Man.

’When I go off to university I can get the Libre monitor on prescription but when I come back to the island I can’t and because they’re quite expensive I try to stock up whilst I’m over there.

’Coming back to the island and going back to finger pricking it’s like taking a step backwards when you’ve had that facility there for free.

’Having these monitors would be a game changer for kids going through high school. I had a hard time with it [finger prick blood testing] when I was going through high school as you’ve got kids looking at you and saying "what’s she doing?" or you get people who are jealous thinking "she’s just doing that for attention".

’Kids who have the monitors can now have a quick look at their phone.

’My mum and my dad used to have to ring up school just to check in on me.

’Now parents can look at their phones and not have to worry about disturbing the classes which makes it better for the teachers.’

Kirsty Bates, territory manager at Dexcom, pays visits to the island about three times a year to raise awareness about the issue and to promote the product.

She told the Examiner: ’Ideally the outcome of tonight will be that we all get funding for [these monitors].

’At the moment the method they’re using to monitor glucose is a finger stick metre and they prick their finger four times a day and it gives them a number. It doesn’t tell them anything else.

’It doesn’t tell them whether they’re low or high or what direction they’re moving in. They could prick their finger and be a safe number but they could be heading down and in 15 minutes it could be hypo on the floor unconscious.’

Find out more about the campaign at @ManxDiabeticGroup on Facebook or visit www.manxdiabeticgroup.com