Laurie Ferguson (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

At the outset, I recognise RESULTS, the group that has approached the member for Forrest, the member for Braddon and me—and, I guess, many other members—on this issue. I admire their effort in lobbying members of parliament and working with the media—they have accomplished much in regard to microfinance and debt cancellation—as well as their interest in tuberculosis.

It is important to note that tuberculosis is very much related to poverty and, in particular, is gender based. The characteristics of women’s circumstances around the world—cramped living conditions; poor ventilation when cooking; using biomass fuel when they cook; confined living spaces and the predominance of women in sex work, which is very closely interrelated with living in confined spaces—are all aspects that lead to a greater prevalence amongst women. Throughout large parts of the world women with this disease suffer a degree of stigmatisation and often do not get the treatment that males receive. It is also important to note another example of how this affects poorer people. If we adjust the statistics to take account of differences in age structures between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations in Australia, we see that the rate of tuberculosis amongst Indigenous Australians compared to other people in this country is 14 to one. It is very much a disease that is related to living conditions and to a person’s circumstances in life.

The situation is that, around the world, a person dies from TB every 20 seconds. Many other speakers have mentioned the figure of 1.7 million people dying per year, with 9½ million people contracting active TB. One of the other problems is, despite the efforts of foreign aid and the efforts of doctors et cetera, population growth around the world is in some areas overwhelming our gains. We are making strenuous steps forward, occasioned by the United Nations and other organisations, but in some parts of the world population growth means that, although the rates are going down, the number of people being affected is making the situation extremely serious. Another problem that has been identified with tuberculosis is the difficulty that many people have in completing their regime of medication, which is supposed to be at least six to 12 months in duration. The circumstances of some people around the world make that very difficult. Screening rates are lower in large parts of the developing world. Self-medication is a problem when people do not have access to proper medical facilities et cetera.

The organisation referred to in the motion, which I take to be an organisation that does not have a commercial motivation, is advocating to move towards the Xpert diagnostic tool. The current test is very much affected by the circumstances in which the patient takes that test. But most particularly it takes too long to get the results back. On average, a person suffering from tuberculosis can infect 10 to 15 people. So if somebody is wandering around the streets undiagnosed, unknowing et cetera, that obviously becomes a major threat to the spread of the disease. It has been said that clinicians will now be able to obtain dependable test results in virtually any clinical setting, not only for detection of TB but for simultaneous determination of whether or not it is a drug-resistant strain. As the previous opposition speaker noted, another significant issue around the world with tuberculosis is the growth of drug resistance because of self-medication and people not keeping to their regimes.

Returning to the theme raised at the beginning, it is important to note that 17 of the 22 countries most affected by this problem, where 80 per cent of people are suffering from TB, have a per capita GDP of less than $760 a year. So it is very much related to poverty and associated issues. I also associate myself with Senator Pratt’s motion in the Senate, which, in addition, calls for Australia not to move backwards with foreign aid funding in this area, calls for funding not to be affected by the Queensland floods and other catastrophes, and calls for Australia not to in any way walk away from commitments on foreign aid in this and other areas.

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