Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yesterday the National Stroke Foundation launched a new website and a report titled Stroke in Australia: No postcode untouched. I commend the foundation and their chief executive officer, Dr Erin Lalor, on this report. The report shows the widespread impact of stroke in Australian cities and towns. For the first time, it details the numbers of strokes, the numbers of stroke survivors and the numbers of people who are dying from stroke. It also shows how many people are living with risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, atrial fibrillation and lack of physical activity. In my own electorate of Boothby we rank fourth for number of strokes, second for number of deaths from strokes and sixth for number of stroke survivors, 3,707.

I encourage all members to have a look at this report. Many constituents would be unaware of their risk. There is more that can be done in terms of dedicated stroke units as well as integrated health checks in primary care. I commend the foundation on this report.

See this speech in context