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

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) National Asthma Week was 1 to 7 September 2015;

(b) the theme of National Asthma Week 2015 was „You Care We Care—One Asthma Community‟;

(c) asthma affects around one in four children, one in seven adolescents and one in ten adults;

(d) 2.3 million Australians currently have asthma;

(e) asthma is the number one cause of hospital admissions amongst young children; and

(f) while many in our community lead highly successful lives despite their asthma, asthma continues to be a significant burden for too many including those who live below the poverty line and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; and

(2) congratulates Asthma Australia for its work promoting National Asthma Week and raising community awareness of asthma.

The week 1 to 7 September is National Asthma Week and the theme of this year's Asthma Week was 'You Care We Care—One Asthma Community.' Asthma is a long-term condition that affects a person's breathing. It is a significant cause of illness and poor quality of life and it is particularly prevalent within Australia.

It is a type of obstructive airways disease and one in 10 people suffer from asthma. Twenty per cent of people aged 15 and over with asthma have a written action plan and that should be a lot higher than it is. Children aged zero to 14 were the most likely to have written asthma plans, at 41 per cent, which is still not high enough. In 2008-09 $655 million was spent on asthma, and that is 0.9 per cent of all direct health expenditure on disease. In 2012-13 there were 37,500 hospitalisations and there were 394 deaths in 2012. With over two million people living with asthma it must be one of the nation's top health priorities. Everybody knows somebody who is living with asthma—it affects everybody, be it a friend, a work colleague, a family member or that person themselves. I am sure we will hear a little bit more about that from our next contributor to this debate.

Asthma week is the national week for promoting asthma-awareness education and self-management and for inspiring people who live with asthma. The highest prevalence of asthma is in older people and the deaths most commonly occur within the over-65 age group. There are more hospitalisations in that age group as well and nearly double than the rate of smoking. It has been demonstrated that there is a strong connection between smoking and asthma, and there are higher rates of asthma in children who are exposed to passive smoking as well.

There is a high likelihood that those with asthma will develop diabetes and mental and behavioural disorders, so there is a correlation between those. But, as with most chronic diseases, they can be prevented and remediated to an extent by healthy eating, exercise and making sure that you follow the right procedures. It is always interesting to note that those people who live in lower socioeconomic areas, or who have less disposable income and less access to education and preventative health programs, are those that tend to have the highest prevalence of asthma. The incidence of asthma is higher among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians than other Australians. That relates, once again, to higher rates of smoking, asthma plans not being in place and less access to preventative medicine.

I think it is vitally important that each and every member goes back to their electorate and makes their electorate aware of the fact that asthma plans are vitally important, that asthma can be managed and that asthma is one of the most prevalent diseases within our community. We need to encourage people to stop smoking and to develop asthma-friendly approaches to their lives.

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