John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you to the member for Dobell for raising this important issue on stroke awareness. It is estimated that 440,000 Australians live with the effects of stroke, two-thirds of whom suffer a disability that impedes their ability to carry out daily-living activities. A stroke occurs when the blood supply to the brain is restricted either through a blockage or bleeding. This cuts off the supply of oxygen to the brain causing damage to the affected tissue. A stroke may cause paralysis, speech impairment, loss of memory and reasoning ability, coma or death. A stroke can happen to anyone. One in six people will have a stroke in their lifetime. It does not discriminate.

My father suffered a stroke when he watching his favourite son compete in tennis. His favourite son has two sisters—there is no other son. This actually stopped him from playing tennis. He took up playing golf and he was very proud of his handicap of about 30, which he called his stroke handicap. Long after he had recovered, he still played off that handicap to take money off the unsuspecting. Rod Laver had a stroke. Rod is a very shy man, uncomfortable with his celebrity status. When doing a television interview he was clearly uncomfortable with, his blood pressure was raised and he suffered a stroke. Australia paused until he recovered.

Aside from the personal cost, stroke costs the Australian economy around $5 billion each year, including $3 billion in lost productivity and $1 billion in lost wages. This motion acknowledges the positive contribution by the National Stroke Foundation to prevent stroke through campaigns like National Stroke Week, which will be observed across the country next week. I am proud to support this motion and call upon this House to recognise the steps we, and all Australians, can take to reduce the negative impact stroke has on our economy and our community.

As the member for Bennelong, I am fortunate to represent the region that houses the majority of Australia's innovative pharmaceutical companies. This means I have the opportunity to observe firsthand the evolution of treatments for life-threatening conditions. Stroke treatment is a particularly good news story about the incredible impact on society of investing in health research. In the 1950s a drug called Warfarin was approved by the medical community to treat stroke due to its effectiveness as a blood thinner. Warfarin was initially marketed during the Second World War as rat poison. Despite this, it became one of the most widely prescribed oral anticoagulants.

In recent years, new breakthrough medicines called new oral anticoagulants have been invented to help prevent stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation. In particular, I was involved in the campaign for Pradaxa, which is produced by Bennelong's Boehringer Ingelheim, to be listed on the PBS and therefore available to Australian stroke patients at a heavily subsidised price. Unfortunately for those patients, the previous government delayed this decision by 2½ years after the PBAC had approved the drug's listing. Through this time, I was amazed at the incredible generosity of Boehringer Ingelheim, led by managing director Wes Cook, in offering the medicine on a compassionate program to hundreds if not thousands of patients. At a Parliamentary Friends of Medicine event I hosted in 2012 I was privileged to meet some of these patients, hear their stories and see the genuine appreciation they had for Boehringer Ingelheim and their compassionate program. Finally listed on the PBS in 2012, new oral anticoagulants like Pradaxa and other similar medicines produced by Bayer and BMS Pfizer have helped prevent an estimated 60,000 strokes.

In 2015, there will be more than 50,000 new and recurrent stroke. That is 1,000 strokes every week, or one stroke every 10 minutes. Australia is home to some of the world's leading stroke researchers, and some amazing work is being done around the country as we speak on innovative ways to help treat stroke and to prevent long-lasting disability and death. I therefore add my voice to this motion from the member for Dobell and extend my support and gratitude to organisations like the National Stroke Foundation for their efforts to raise awareness of the importance of stroke prevention.

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