Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I second the motion. As co-convener, with the member for Calwell, of the Parliamentary Friends of the Heart Foundation and Stroke Foundation I have been proud to work with hearts4heart and its CEO, Tanya Hall, to increase awareness of atrial fibrillation. Ms Hall is a passionate advocate and a survivor of this condition. Through the work of hearts4heart she has made great headway with targeted educational programs and services to assist patients, medical professionals and policymakers to ensure early diagnosis and treatment of heart disease. In particular, the Time to change the beat white paper identifies strategies to improve the detection and management of atrial fibrillation.

Heart disease, and in particular atrial fibrillation, is a growing risk both to peoples' health and the national budget in Australia. I am sure most people in this place have personal experience with cardiac conditions and, particularly, atrial fibrillation. Whether it is oneself or a relative, a friend or work colleague, we are all touched at some stage by the fallout heart disease can create. Atrial fibrillation, or AF, is a type of abnormal heart rhythm. It starts in the upper chambers of your heart and causes them to quiver instead of beating normally. This can mean your heart doesn't pump blood around your body as efficiently as it should. AF is associated with up to a sevenfold increase in the risk of stroke, a threefold increase in the risk of heart failure and double the risk of subsequent death. That is seriously scary stuff. Perhaps the scariest thing about AF is that many patients are unaware of their condition. For 25 per cent of people who have an AF-related stroke, the stroke is the first sign that they have it. The prevalence of AF is expected to double in the next decade, placing greater strain on our health system. The annual cost of AF equates to approximately $5,200 per annum for each person with AF, which is more than the per capita cost of osteoarthritis, obesity or cardiovascular disease.

Catheter ablation has emerged as an alternative to medical management for selected patients, particularly when medical management is ineffective. The provision of catheter-based AF ablation services in Australia has increased exponentially since early this century. Studies have shown that most patients who are arrhythmia free one year after ablation remain arrhythmia free five years after ablation. Eliminating AF through catheter ablation would also reduce AF-related stroke, heart attack and poor health risks. Avoidance of an AF-related stroke is likely to save the Australian healthcare system at least $30,000 per patient for the first year.

Despite the positive statistics, we have seen reluctance from health funds to cover catheter ablations due to a technicality that just doesn't pass the common sense test. It is a fundamental of a civilised society that one can access good treatment for one's ailments. Should this particular treatment be included in private health insurance lists, it promises to both cure patients and provide a benefit to the taxpayer by keeping private patients private, not clogging up the public system. The news just last week that we, as a government, will review the listing of new targeted medical devices, like catheter ablations, is a positive step forward, and one I hope will see the procedure accepted by health insurers. I will continue to work with Minister Hunt to see outcomes improve for those with heart conditions like atrial fibrillation. Thank you.

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