Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This is a vitally important motion for all Australians. It raises awareness of the incidence of heart disease within our society and, at the same time, puts heart disease exactly where it should be on the map as the highest killer of Australians. Heart attack claims one Australian life every 47 minutes, and each year almost 4,000 people die of heart attack in New South Wales alone. More than half of heart-attack deaths occur before a person reaches a hospital. In an area I represent in this parliament, the Hunter-New England area, 350 people die of heart attack each year. This shows just how important it is that, as a nation, we address and recognise the importance of having a healthy cardiovascular system.

The motion before the House notes that cardiovascular disease is not only heart attack but also stroke and blood vessel disease. These diseases are intertwined and have very similar causes. They kill an enormous number of Australians and affect more than 3.4 million Australians each year. These diseases impact on people's ability to live whole and full lives, to be able to participate in employment and to enjoy sport and exercise at the level other Australians can. I know that members in this House have similar experiences to the experience I had last week, where I was talking to a constituent about their son who has a severe heart condition and is prevented from working. It has impacted on every aspect of his life, and at the same time it has caused depression, which is one of the side effects of cardiovascular disease.

It is important to note that there are things people can do and there are causes of heart disease. At the top of the list of causes is tobacco smoking. We need to exercise more. We need to eat properly. Alcohol consumption is another contributor to heart disease. So is high blood pressure. It is important that people monitor their blood pressure at all times. Something as simple as having a regular blood test to check the level of cholesterol that people have in their blood can be one of the most significant steps a person can take to lower their risk of cardiovascular disease. Diabetes and renal failure also contribute to heart disease. Many of these factors can be changed, and by changing these factors people immediately reduce their risk of heart disease. Another aspect of cardiovascular disease—and I am talking about heart attacks here—is that it is really important to recognise the fact that you are having a heart attack. There is the 'golden hour' where, if within that hour people recognise that they are having a heart attack and get treatment, their clinical outcome is much better. People have been surveyed in the area that I live in and 39 per cent of the people who were surveyed said that, if they thought they were having a heart attack, they would wait a while and see what happened. Another 68 per cent were unaware of what heart attack symptoms were, 49 per cent would not know what to do if they were having a heart attack and 24 per cent would make sure that they were having a heart attack before they called the ambulance. There is one thing that you do if you think you may be having a heart attack: call 000. Seek help immediately because, as I mentioned, that golden hour really contributes to your outcome. So what are the warning signs of a heart attack? I think it is really important to say here that no two heart attacks are the same. People can have chest pain or pain in their arms, their shoulders, their neck, their jaw or their back. They can feel short of breath, they can feel nauseous, they can have a cold sweat or they can be dizzy or lightheaded. These are all signs of a heart attack. So there is no one fit for all.

I was at the launch of Go Red for Women on 6 May in the Hunter, and I will talk a little bit more about that in a moment. A speaker at the launch was a woman who had suffered a heart attack and her symptom was heartburn. She had had heartburn for a few days before. She said, 'I was just throwing down the antacid and it kept coming back.' She had her grandchildren when she had her heart attack. She was very fortunate that her young grandchild called the ambulance and she got to hospital. She thought that she was healthy. She was a very active woman in her late 50s or 60s. She worked and assisted with the care of her grandchildren. She exercised and she did not smoke. But the one thing that she did not check on was her cholesterol level. It is so important that people embrace the message put out by the Heart Foundation.

As I mentioned earlier, on 6 May I launched the Heart Foundation's Go Red for Women campaign in the Hunter. It is a campaign designed to raise awareness of heart disease in women. The facts relating to women and heart disease are really frightening and I do not think that they are recognised. The first thing is: what is the biggest killer of women in Australia? The No. 1 killer is heart disease. It kills four times as many women as breast cancer does. Most people do not know that. I think it is a really frightening fact. People tend to think that heart disease is something that just affects older men. Wrong. Almost as many women die from heart disease as men. So it is very important that women take responsibility for their health. Do not ignore those little signs. Act to turn it around. The message of the Go Red for Women campaign this year encourages women to take action. Part of taking action and something that women can do is joining the Healthy Heart Challenge. I have signed up for the Healthy Heart Challenge and it starts on 1 June. It was trialled in Queensland last year and I was an outsider who signed up. Following the guidelines of the challenge, I managed to lose 10 kilos over a period of time. There are tips on improving nutrition, because nutrition is very important, and tips on being active. The approach that I am taking this year is to try to increase my physical activity. I have put down a few goals. The first thing I am going to do is start a walking group. The first one of our walks will be leaving the start of the Fernleigh Track in Belmont on 4 June this year. The following week I am looking to have one down at Buff Point, in the southern part of my electorate. So at 8.30 in the morning on 4 June I hope that I have a number of people join me for that walk.

Given the importance of heart disease and the importance of the Heart Foundation, I would like members who are speaking in this debate today to join with me to become friends of the Heart Foundation and fight cardiovascular disease. I would like to start a group here in parliament. It is very, very important that we get out there and get the message to all Australians. We need to take it back to our electorates. We can change things simply by taking action.

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