Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, I commend the member for Macarthur for bringing this matter of catheter ablation to the attention of the House. I also commend all the other speakers who have spoken in support of the motion. It has bipartisan support, and that is good to see. As other members have already pointed out, atrial fibrillation is a serious heart rhythm condition. And as others have also pointed out, it affects almost 500,000 Australians. Even worse, it costs the healthcare system about $1.6 billion each year in direct healthcare costs. So, if there's no other reason for doing this, it should be done because it will end up being a budget savings for the government.

The reality is that a person with atrial fibrillation, or AF, has five times the risk of suffering a stroke and three times the risk of suffering heart failure. Just as concerning is that in most cases there are no symptoms, there are no warning signs and therefore there are no preventative actions that might otherwise have been taken. In other words, it can come most unexpectedly upon a person and can very quickly either end their life or cause them to have a stroke, indeed changing their life forever. Not surprisingly, over the last 20 years there has been almost a doubling of death rates arising from AF. The risk factors when symptoms are there are similar to all the other risk factors that people with other cardiac conditions have. Physical inactivity, smoking, being overweight, diabetes, high cholesterol and other factors like these all contribute to the risk. Additionally, if someone has those risks—again, similar to those for other cardio conditions—then high blood pressure, dizziness, chest pain and palpitations should be immediate warning signs to go and get yourself checked out.

The good thing about AF is that the test for it is relatively simple. As other members have already said, some testing was done here at Parliament House. I participated in that test. It was, again, a very simple test which gave me some indication of the level of risk I would be at. Equally, other people should be going in to see their GP and having that test. It should be made accessible and available to people wherever they live. If someone is found to be at risk in any way, the good thing is that there is a relatively modern, minimally invasive treatment that is now available. It is that referred to by the speakers, known as catheter ablation. Unfortunately, the procedure is not listed on the federal Prostheses List and therefore not covered for privately insured patients. My understanding is that some 40,000 people in Australia right now would possibly benefit from catheter ablation, of which nearly half are privately insured but can't get any insurance cover and therefore are quite likely to not take up the procedure available to them. If they go on a public hospital waiting list then they might be waiting one or two years. Sadly, for some people that might simply be too long.

Again, it simply doesn't make sense that we have a problem, we have some simple solutions now available, but because of a bureaucratic process, people cannot access those solutions. It is time that the Prostheses List procedure and process was changed. It needs to be changed because we have a clear example of where what might have been a process that was appropriate at the time it was written up is no longer appropriate today. Therefore I certainly welcome the comments from the government speakers that this may happen, but it needs to happen ASAP. Cardiovascular disease remains Australia's biggest killer. I understand that the figures, if anything, are starting to rise again, possibly because of the sedentary lifestyle that so many people live today. It appears that what was once a disease that we were making some progress with is again on the rise. This is one part of cardiovascular disease where progress has been made, where solutions are available and where people can be treated safely, with a 75 per cent success rate, and we ought to get on with it as quickly as possible.

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