A young Nova Scotia girl is about to receive a new insulin pump, thanks to a fundraising campaign in her community.

The Pictou family has no insurance to cover the costs of a pump for 10-year-old Madison Moulton and the community responded quickly, raising the $7,000 needed.

However, the girl’s mother and the Canadian Diabetes Association say the fundraising efforts wouldn’t have been necessary if Nova Scotia was like other provinces in Canada and covered the cost of insulin pumps for children.

“For people who may not have such a community behind them, or maybe are from a smaller community, it’s a big burden to know that your child could go without something, something that’s life saving,” says the girl’s mother, Dayle Crouse.

“It was one of those things where, you know, it hits your heart,” says New Glasgow Kinsmen Club member Richard MacPherson. “Where, you know, this is going to change the child’s life, I believe.”

If Crouse and her family lived elsewhere in Canada they could have received the pump for free.

The province of New Brunswick will make a partial contribution based on family income, but Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are the only provinces without a funding program for insulin pumps for children younger than 18.

“Although we still unfortunately don’t have a commitment from either provincial government for an insulin pump funding program, we continue to meet with them,” says Lisa Matte of the Canadian Diabetes Association.

“We’ll provide them with more evidence, reports as they become available, and we’ll just keep taking the message on.”

Nova Scotia’s Deputy Minister of Health agrees insulin pumps can be a better alternative for some diabetics.

However, Kevin McNamara says $20 million is already spent each year for diabetics of all ages, on items such as test strips and insulin.

“In looking at the availability of resources that we have we felt it was more important to be able to fund those things at this time,” says McNamara. “It is something that we will look at in the future as we get more dollars.”

“If you consider the future cost of this disease, I believe that covering pumps now will outweigh the cost of a pump, versus the future medical expenses,” says Crouse.

She expects Madison will have her new insulin pump in time for Christmas and she hopes that by next Christmas, Nova Scotia will provide some kind of financial support for other children who need them.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh