Julia Irwin (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The words ‘fibro’ and ‘western suburbs’ go together like ham and eggs. In Sydney and most other capitals, regional cities and towns, the housing boom of the postwar period was dominated by the use of asbestos cement sheeting. This material was inexpensive, easy to work with and easy to apply. Like millions of other Australians, I was raised in a fibro home. Other forms of asbestos were widely used in industry for heat insulation, and many workers were exposed to asbestos in its raw form. But this wonder material hid a deadly secret.

By the mid-1960s, contact with asbestos was linked to fatal lung diseases. Mesothelioma is a rare and fatal form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Diagnosis occurs often as long as 20 to 40 years after exposure. From then, the survival rate is only 42 per cent for one year and five per cent for five years. There are at present over 600 cases of mesothelioma, with an expectation that there will have been 18,000 cases by 2020. This is the highest rate in the world.

The standard treatment of mesothelioma is a combination of agents Cisplatin and Alimta. A single course of treatment of Alimta currently costs between $20,000 and $25,000. Alimta is not listed on the PBS for the treatment of mesothelioma, leaving some sufferers to meet the full cost of this treatment.

In New South Wales, sufferers who can prove that their case was caused through their employment may have their treatment funded by the Dust Diseases Board as workers compensation. Access to free treatment varies from state to state. Western Australia provides universal access through public hospitals. In some cases, private health insurance may cover the cost where the treatment is given as an in-patient service. In the case of New South Wales, access to treatment can be delayed waiting on approval from the Dust Diseases Board. Treatment with Alimta is most beneficial when it is begun in the earliest stages of the disease. Any delay can reduce its effectiveness.

While Alimta is included on the PBS for other forms of lung cancer, it is not approved for mesothelioma. Funded access to Alimta for the treatment of mesothelioma across Australia is an absolute dog’s breakfast. Between 35 per cent and 50 per cent of mesothelioma sufferers who would benefit from a course of Alimta experience problems obtaining subsidised or compensated access to treatment.

While the extension of survival may only be from 9.3 months to 12.1 months with the use of Alimta, what needs to be considered is the improvement in the quality of life for sufferers. Diagnosis with mesothelioma is a death sentence. There is no cure. Early treatment with Alimta can extend the survival of sufferers but, more importantly, it can make a big difference to the quality of life of sufferers. It can mean the difference between being confined to a bed and being able to move about. It can make a huge difference to the level of pain encountered.

The importance of this cannot be underestimated. For those now diagnosed with mesothelioma and the tens of thousands whose diagnosis will be revealed in the years ahead, the prospect of facing a lottery when seeking the best available treatment should not be happening in our health system. A factor in survival for sufferers is reducing stress levels. Putting sufferers through a series of hoops to gain access to treatment is cruel and heartless. To deny access to treatment which reduces pain in the disease’s terminal stages is shameful. We would not treat animals the same way we treat victims of mesothelioma. At a time when our budget surplus is growing, we should be able to find the $5 million a year to fund the treatment of mesothelioma using Alimta.

The government must act with the greatest urgency to provide relief for the hundreds of mesothelioma sufferers in need of treatment, and it must act now to improve hope for the thousands of people who, in the years ahead, will be diagnosed with mesothelioma across those towns and suburbs where we are surrounded by fibro. This is a national disaster on a scale not seen before in this country. (Time expired)

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