Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too wish to pass on my congratulations to the member for Shortland for bringing this motion to the House. As has been mentioned already, last week was National Stroke Week, and the purpose of this motion is to not only raise awareness of the risk of stroke, but also the preventive actions that people can take to help reduce the risk.

A stroke can happen in two main ways: either there is a blood clot or plaque that blocks the blood vessel in the brain, or a blood vessel in the brain breaks or ruptures. The focus of National Stroke Week is to encourage people to understand their stroke risk. I note that the member for Shortland's motion states:

(a) stroke remains the second biggest killer and a leading cause of disability in Australia;

(b) one in six people will suffer a stroke in their lifetime; and

(c) around 60,000 people will suffer new or recurrent strokes this year …

Many factors, some beyond our control, can lead to a stroke. However, there are some lifestyle factors which we can all act upon to reduce our risk. The factors we cannot control are age, gender and family history. However, we can improve our blood pressure, our cholesterol, our diet, our physical activity, our body weight and our alcohol consumption. Furthermore, smokers can reduce their risk by giving up the habit altogether.

Australians should all understand the signs of stroke to ensure victims receive immediate medical assistance, and these signs can best be recognised by the following acronym—FAST. F stands for face: has the mouth drooped? A stands for arms: can they move both of them? S stands for speech: is their speech slurred and can they speak? T stands for time: time is critical and you need to seek medical help as soon as possible. Stroke is one of the No. 1 killers alongside heart disease in Australia.

In the Forde electorate we have a local support group, the Beenleigh Stroke Survivors Group, which is part of the National Stroke Foundation. Some time ago this group ceased to exist, but a local constituent fresh out of university volunteered to re-establish the group, which continues to increase in size. Natalie Davis, 24, has been working with the group's membership along with the foundation to provide a place where local stroke survivors can meet to make friends with other survivors and share their stories. They meet every month, ironically at the Beenleigh McDonald's. Since they started meeting there, numbers have increased to a level where they will soon have to find a larger venue. I have been invited along to their next meeting to speak and to hear about Natalie's plans to make the group an official charity.

Over the past weekend I attended the Beenleigh show, and the Beenleigh stroke group also had a stall there. It was the first time they had set up a stall at the show and Natalie said she was surprised at the number of people who came up to the stall to share their stories of stroke survival. Natalie said that the one thing that stood out for her were the stories where the survivors had experienced stroke with children. She said there are some 20 members currently in the group but, after the weekend promotion at the show, she is expecting this number to rise. On Wednesday this week they will be holding a luncheon at the Beenleigh RSL as part of the official National Stroke Week activity. Early indications from the response they received at the show are that around 30 people may attend, along with their carers.

I want to congratulate Natalie and the people involved with the Beenleigh stroke group for the work they are doing in my local community to make the community more aware of issues to do with stroke and in providing support and assistance for those people who have suffered a stroke and for their carers. I look forward to going along to the group's next meeting. I will continue to play my part in ensuring the community understands the risk factors and the signs of stroke to ensure early medical intervention, and, equally importantly, I will seek to ensure that we educate the community in the lifestyle factors that create this issue in the first place and how we as a community can prevent those risks and stop people suffering this debilitating illness.

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