Fiona Sanders, 36, of Yarrawarrah, was eligible for an insulin pump through her private health insurance and said no one with the disease should have to deal with multiple daily insulin injections simply because they could not afford a pump.

Insulin pumps cost between $5000 to $8000 and until recently were only available in Australia through major teaching hospitals.

The Federal Government has now approved in its budget a national insulin pumps grants program for people under the age of 18 who cannot afford a device.

The program will be available from November.

Insulin pumps are recognised as the ultimate in type 1 diabetes treatment because they can reduce severe fluctuations in blood sugar levels.

Smoothing out these fluctuations then reduces the associated long-term retinal eye, nerve and kidney damage.

In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas cannot produce insulin because the cells making insulin have been destroyed.

Mrs Sanders said her average blood glucose levels had dropped from 9.8 to 7.0 in the six months she had been using the pump.

``I no longer have to inject myself four times a day,'' Mrs Sanders said.

``It is especially wonderful that my little girl does not have to see me do that anymore.''

The pump holds a small cartridge that stores a three-day supply of insulin, replacing the need for daily insulin injections.

``It takes a little while to get used to but overall my control has improved greatly so I am much more confident about my long-term health now,'' she said.

``There are so many ways the pump has changed my life.''

The insulin pump scheme was developed by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and Diabetes Australia. To register interest in the scheme, visit www.jdrf.org.au