Diabetes patients with a driver’s license must pass various medical examinations every 5 years, regardless of their age. In addition, they must have their eyes checked every 10 years. Diabetes Association Netherlands (DVN) has calculated that someone with diabetes will spend an average of 550 euros per 10 years to renew their driver’s license. While a healthy person under the age of 75 pays 60 euros for this.
“Someone with diabetes must visit the specialist at least once a year,” says director Edith Mulder. “Complications are examined and your eyes are also examined. People with diabetes know much better about their health than people who do not have diabetes.”
Measuring technology does not stand still
But there are certainly risks. A diabetes patient with type 1 or type 2 can develop a hypo while driving. This is a sudden drop in blood sugar levels. If a diabetes patient does not consume sugar in time, the person may become dizzy or drowsy and even lose consciousness, with all the consequences that entails.
However, technology does not stand still. Nowadays, diabetes patients measure their blood sugar levels via a sensor on their arm. This sensor sends the blood values to a reader or a special app so that patients can monitor their blood sugar levels. There is also news about the special artificial pancreas. This device continuously measures blood sugar levels and, if necessary, releases insulin or glucagon (a hormone that increases blood sugar levels) into the body.
Fewer accidents caused by people with diabetes
Due to technological progress, the Dutch Diabetes Association believes that people with diabetes are unnecessarily incurring costs due to various medical examinations when renewing their driving license. “In addition, this places an unnecessary burden on healthcare and these inspections cause a lot of stress for our patients,” says Mulder.
According to the Foundation for Scientific Research on Road Safety (SWOV), scientific research also shows that it appears that the accident risk due to diabetes has decreased in recent years.
Please be patient
These developments have not gone unnoticed by the European Commission and the current policy is therefore being revised. The European Commission has a new proposal in which the frequency of medical examinations for diabetes patients will be reduced to 10 years. This still needs to be discussed in the European Parliament. That will probably happen after the European Parliament elections in June.
If the proposal is adopted, it may take a number of years before it is actually implemented. The CBR expects that this will be in 2027 at the earliest. That would be good news for diabetes patients, although they will still have to be patient.
(Photo: MAX)
2024-03-08 18:53:55
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