Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In continuation of my support for the Australian National Preventive Health Agency Bill 2009, prior to the adjournment yesterday I was taking the House to some of the more commonly known preventable chronic diseases, one of these being cardiovascular disease. I should clarify that, although the diseases I refer to are certainly known, it should not be taken as meaning that many Australians are fully aware that they are in fact specifically at risk themselves. Cardiovascular disease is a prime example. Women in Australia generally think of men being particularly vulnerable to this disease. However, as I learned when attending the Go Red for Women campaign launched by the Heart Foundation in June 2009, women are at significant risk. The Go Red for Women campaign is about lifting awareness amongst women that cardiovascular disease is the greatest killer of women in Australia. In 2007, heart disease accounted for four times the number of deaths in women than that of breast cancer. Women think that their husbands, their partners and their fathers are the ones at risk. We worry about them not eating properly and not exercising enough. We certainly do not consider ourselves at the same risk. If we are to prevent the death of women in Australia from cardiovascular disease, we must do much more to educate women on the risks to them.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge another great campaign of the Heart Foundation—Jump Rope for Heart. This is a skipping competition that has been running since 1983 in our schools. I personally attended St Paul’s School at Bald Hills in my electorate to witness their Jump Rope for Heart event. My own children have also participated in this event at their school.

Of course, too many people have been touched by another insidious disease—cancer. If we have not personally been affected, we generally know someone who has—either a family member, friend or work colleague. Many lives have been saved because of early detection of cancers. The education of women to get regular checkups for cervical cancer and for breast cancer has improved the chances of a woman diagnosed with cancer being able to live a long and healthy life. Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending the launch of the ‘Pink Bits’ calendar. This calendar contains beautiful photos of the ladies from the Redcliffe Pink Snapdragons posing with some very attractive men. The Redcliffe Pink Snapdragons is a dragon boat club and the Redcliffe Pink Snapdragons membership is made up of ladies who have gone through or are still going through breast cancer. Proceeds of the calendar will go towards the ‘pink ladies’ going to Canada in June 2010 for the International Participatory Breast Cancer Dragon Boat Festival. I recommend to anyone wanting to support the team by donating money or purchasing a calendar to look up their website or contact my office. These women are truly remarkable and are a shining example of why we must continue to fight this disease and engage in preventative measures to diagnose breast cancer early. The Snapdragons have recently participated in our local Cancer Council’s Relay For Life, another fantastic event that goes on around this country. I know the member for Forde certainly recently participated in his own local Relay For Life.

For the second year, my team, the Petrie Possums, entered the Redcliffe Relay for Life. Most of the teams stayed for the entire 18 hours, camping overnight, with some of us, like myself, getting about one hour’s sleep. Not only did members of the local community come and support my team by walking with us; I had my children join us again for the second year. I think it is important that our children get to engage with our community on these issues because many children’s lives are also touched by cancer.

This was a great opportunity for local organisations to support the event. I know I had support from Redcliffe Leagues Club, Polyworld, Ballycara Retirement Village, Belvedere Hotel, Reality Cruises and The Ox Restaurant. Helen-Maree Butler, one of my team members, personally raised $660 and came along and participated in the event with her daughters. Overall, our team was the highest fundraiser, raising $6,221 for the Cancer Council.

Recently, a young boy from Bracken Ridge State High School in my electorate, 13-year-old Jaz Jorgensen, took the initiative of walking the old Hornibrook Bridge, which is over 2.2 kilometres, 20 times to raise money for breast cancer. His grandmother was diagnosed last year. We started at 5.00 in the morning and did the first couple of laps with Jaz and his mum. He raised over $2,000. These are just some of the amazing local people and events that are supporting awareness and education, and are fundraising for chronic disease in my local area.

As I have already noted, much work has been undertaken to lift awareness in the aim of preventing diseases such as cervical cancer, skin cancer and prostate cancer. Women now regularly ensure that they get check-ups. The problem is that there are other diseases, such as prostate cancer, where we have not come far enough. Men are still not getting regular check-ups and they are not getting regular notices that they should go to get tested and assessed. We thank people like Wayne Swan who have come out publicly and talked about their experience with prostate cancer to lift that awareness and to encourage men to also get tested.

A nationally coordinated approach can improve the early detection and treatment of these chronic diseases. The list of preventable diseases is lengthy, and there is no way that I can deal with all of those in this short period of time. Diseases, such as sexually transmitted diseases, are truly preventable, and we need to do more to educate our young people especially about the risks. Then there is the significant effect that tobacco, alcohol and drugs are having on our society, as well as the cost. In 2004-05 the estimated economic cost of licit and illicit drug use to our society was over $56 billion. We need to be doing more in these areas. Obesity is another chronic disease that is preventable, and we certainly need to be doing more to support this.

I am pleased that our GP Superclinic, which is in the process of being built at the moment, will concentrate on acute care and acute general practice services, but importantly, also, on chronic disease management. I know from discussions with the foundation and the consortium that they have a keen focus on preventative health and issues, and this focus will play an important role in the new Moreton Bay Integrated Care Centre being built at Redcliffe.

I have referred to many statistics. This is a necessary tool in lifting awareness and educating all of us about the risks facing each and every one of us if we are not vigilant. We need to do more to make people aware of their diet, physical wellbeing, and the need to get regular check-ups and be more aware of warning signs. It is through the education of warning signs and through being more aware of our bodies that we can prevent a chronic disease developing and progressing. By focusing on preventive measures, by investing in this agency and funding important educational and other initiatives, we can save in the long run. These savings can then be used in a more targeted way to improve our health and hospital system around the country to ensure quality treatment and support to those most in need.

I have already had the benefit of being part of the federal government’s consultation on the Health and Hospital Reforms recommendations at our Royal Women’s Hospital and to talk with some of my local health professionals about ways the government can improve our health in hospitals locally. This dialogue will continue—and not just as our local GP superclinic progresses and as part of the consultation on the reform recommendations. I will continue to play my important role as a local spokesperson for the government in explaining and discussing the government’s broader health policy and as a spokesperson for my local community to advocate on their behalf to the government and the relevant ministers to work towards providing the best quality health care in my local community. I applaud the Rudd government in establishing this agency and commend this bill to the House.

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