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

I was not really planning to speak in this grievance debate tonight, but I thought I would turn my mind to an issue that I think is very important within our community, and that issue is immunisation. As members of parliament, we are often lobbied by groups that believe that immunisation should not be mandatory. They are people who feel that immunisations cause enormous side effects and that immunisation is the scourge of the world. I disagree very strongly with that. Immunisation is one of the factors that have led to longevity. It is something that has changed the face of our nation.

My grandfather contracted poliomyelitis. Because of the polio that he had suffered he was quite disabled for all of the time I knew him. Many of us here in this parliament have worked with people who, as they have gotten older, have suffered the late effects of polio, or post-polio syndrome, because they did not have access to the polio vaccination when they were younger. There is diphtheria, there is tetanus and there are all the childhood diseases that babies are immunised against. They are immunised against measles, which can be a fatal disease. The other disease that they are immunised against is chickenpox.

When I was young, chickenpox was very commonplace. Everyone in the school or the class tended to develop chickenpox. When I contracted chickenpox I brought it home and both my mother and sister ended up with chickenpox. For years it was thought to be not particularly harmful, just a minor irritant. Subsequently it has been found that if you contract chickenpox when you are young then you are very susceptible to shingles, and shingles is a very debilitating disease. I notice that the member for Ryan is in the chamber. She moved a motion about the new vaccination for shingles, Zostavax, that I was very pleased to speak on in the House.

It is now coming and we are nearly there. From November this year all people over the age of 70 will be eligible to receive the immunisation. That will be of enormous benefit to older people. It will lead to a reduction in hospitalisations. It will lead to a reduction in medical expenses. It will lead to a reduction in the level of disability that many older people have to live with as a result of contracting shingles. It is a double whammy when you look at it from an immunisation point of view. Now children are immunised against chicken pox, and people who were not immunised can now be immunised so they do not contract shingles. So it really shows the benefit of immunisation. I think that the shingles vaccine has an efficacy rate in the vicinity of 80 per cent. Feel free to correct me, Member for Ryan, if I have that figure incorrect.

So I would argue very strongly in this place that we should be supporting immunisation programs. Immunisation has changed the face of our nation, and the world for that matter. In countries like Pakistan polio still exists and there is a definite reluctance to allow immunisation. Part of the role that we need to play in countries such as Pakistan is to get out there and facilitate immunisation of people in those countries. I know Rotary has been very involved in immunisation throughout the world, and Save the Children Fund has been very active in Pakistan, but there is a lot of work that needs to be done at the social and cultural level as well.

Today I was very fortunate to go to a Medicines Australia lunch. There were some fantastic guest speakers. At that luncheon, the theme was: why adult immunisations are important to keep seniors fit and healthy. I have given you one example: shingles vaccination. But it was argued that in Australia pneumonia and influenza annually account for 2,719 deaths, and an enormous 82,067 hospitalisations. That is quite an impost on our health system and of course it is enormous for the people who actually are sick or lose their lives.

Older Australians are most affected: 56 per cent of the hospitalisations for pneumonia and 18 per cent of the hospitalisations for influenza are amongst those 65 and over. That amount of 56 per cent is quite phenomenal. This can be prevented by immunisation. Patients aged 65 to 84 have an average stay in hospital of six to seven days with pneumonia, and five to six days for influenza, compared to 3.3 days for all other hospitalisations. Once again, this can be prevented by immunisation—annual flu injections. We have injections for pneumonia. Research is being undertaken and it has shown that there are new vaccinations that are even more effective than the current vaccinations that are on the market at the moment.

One flu season alone can cost the New South Wales economy—and I am only talking New South Wales here; forgive me, Member for Ryan, a Queenslander—$482 million. Colds and flu are estimated to cost Australian companies more than $7 billion in lost time. That is an enormous cost to those companies and to our economy. The cost of influenza to the healthcare system is estimated at $115 million annually; $79 million of which is attributed to influenza in Australians aged 65 and over. Once again, that is emphasising the fact that immunisation should not stop when you are young. You really need to take it into adulthood, particularly when you get older: 343,000 Australians visit their GP for pneumonia each year, costing $20 million. Once again, that can be avoided.

My theme in this speech is: immunisation is important. It does not matter whether you are a baby, whether you are starting school or whether you are at those other important times in your life. The immunisation for cervical cancer is another good example of an immunisation that is outside that younger age group. So whether you are younger or whether you are in the years between being older, it is important. When you get older you cannot forget to be immunised, because immunisation saves lives, immunisation saves hospitalisation and immunisation is very cost-effective. (Time expired)

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