General News
22 July, 2025
Just five minutes
As part of National Diabetes Week, residents are being encouraged to take advantage of free health checks at participating Priceline Pharmacies, in a push to combat the rising number of undiagnosed and at-risk individuals.
The checks are conducted using a digital Health Station, which takes just five minutes to complete. The self-service stations, provide instant assessments of diabetes risk, as well as cardiovascular and metabolic health indicators.
Diabetes Australia is calling on governments to increase support for community-based prevention and education programs, warning that free checks are only the beginning of what is needed to reduce the burden of the rise in type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes Australia Group CEO Justine Cain said the initiative could be lifesaving.
“There are 1.3 million Australians living with type 2 diabetes and another 500,000 living with silent, undiagnosed type 2 diabetes. Worryingly, there are another 2 million people who are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. A simple, free check could be the difference between early detection and a life-threatening diabetes complication like a heart attack or stroke,” Ms Cain said.
Locally, Pharmacist Fiona Cochrane said the Ararat’s Priceline Pharmacy has already seen strong interest in the checks, which are also linked with the Shane Warne Legacy Health Check.
“We’ve got a health station and it’s done in partnership with the Shane Warne Legacy Health check. It’s been quite successful but the advantage is that you can come in, sit down, and you do your own check. It will do some screening for blood pressure, BMI and screening for diabetes risk assessment.
These reports can be emailed directly to you, or I can have them emailed to me and I can print them off for you. So they’re quite good if you want to take it along to your doctor,” she said.
In addition to the free health check service, which can be undertaken at any time, those who are at risk or under guidance of doctors are able to access blood glucose testing on site, “We do finger prick tests just using the standard blood glucose metre, and people use that if they have been requested by their doctor to occasionally test it if they were maybe concerned,” said Ms Cochrane
Ms Cochrane stressed the importance of awareness and regular monitoring. “I think diabetes creeps up on people, there’s a number of indicators,” she said, stating the concern over those who are undiagnosed, “We’re finding that people often have diabetes for a number of years and not be detected. There are some symptoms of it, but I think that they creep up gradually and people don’t realise. So the importance of regular health checks, being aware of your family history as best you can, keeping your weight within a normal range and keeping up the regular exercise,” she said.
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