Pharmac should stop procrastinating on funding glucose monitors for people with diabetes after the Government agency received a $191m boost in this year's Budget, Diabetes NZ says.

Lily Malot suffers from type 1 diabetes and says being able to monitor her condition with the latest technology would improve her quality of life.

The 13-year-old Waiuku resident was diagnosed with the condition when she was just 2.

Her mother Claire Malot says Lily had two seizures last week and was hospitalised after her glucose dropped to dangerous levels.

Claire says a specialist recommended getting a continuous glucose monitor, but it would cost about $400 a month to pay for the sensors.

'We just can't afford it,” she says.

The monitors are the size of a mobile phone and operate via a small sensor which is attached to a patient's arm.

A continuous glucose monitor lets users test their blood sugar with a scanner or phone.

The device allows a person to track their glucose levels over the space of a day and provides alerts to a loved one or family member if they drop below a safe threshold.

Claire says a monitor would be life-changing for Lily and would give her and her husband peace of mind.

'She's 13 and going to high school next year and this device would mean that no matter where she is I can see what her levels are and do something about it if they drop to an unsafe level.”

Traditional testing relies on a person pricking their finger for a blood sample, often multiple times a day, but it only gives a one-off reading and doesn't tell the person what their readings have been over the last 24 hours.

Claire says Lily has to prick her finger for a blood sample to test her glucose levels five times a day and is losing the sensation in her fingers as a result.

'This device would give her a new lease on life, especially as she's going into her teenage years.”

The Australian government this month announced a subsidy for continuous glucose monitors for people living with type 1 diabetes.

In March, Diabetes NZ announced that it's starting a nationwide social media campaign to get Pharmac to fund the monitors.

Chief executive Heather Verry says Pharmac needs to stop procrastinating.

The monitors would help reduce the cost to the health system, with fewer diabetics ending up in hospital, she says.

'Even if it only funds them for people with type 1 diabetes it would be a step in the right direction.”

Pharmac chief executive Sarah Fitt says she couldn't give a definitive timeframe for if or when a decision will be made to fund the monitors.

'This is because the relative priority of funding one medicine compared with other medicines can change over time.”

The monitors remain an 'option for investment”, she says.

-Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air