Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises that:

(a) National Stroke Week:

  (i) will take place from 12 to 18 September 2016; and

  (ii) seeks to raise awareness about the need to prevent stroke in Australia; and

(b) the Stroke Foundation encourages all Australians to:

  (i) understand the symptoms of stroke and know what to do if one occurs;

  (ii) make healthy lifestyle choices which will reduce the risk of stroke;

  (iii) assist in raising awareness in their local communities; and

  (iv) get regular health check-ups;

(2) notes with concern the financial and emotional burden which stroke has on the Australian community;

(3) acknowledges the:

(a) important role of families and carers of stroke victims; and

(b) valuable contribution of the Australian health system in preventing and treating stroke;

(4) congratulates the bi-partisan efforts made by previous governments; and

(5) confirms the need for continued action to reduce the prevalence of stroke in Australia.

It is a pleasure to be moving this very important private member's motion today, because it addresses a very significant health issue in our community, which so often goes unattended and sees people suffer, often unnecessarily. I want to begin by informing the House that in this parliamentary term I will be taking over from the recently retired member for Shortland as co-convenor of the parliamentary friends of the Heart Foundation and Stroke Foundation. I would like to thank my friend and former colleague, Jill Hall, the former member for Shortland, for her tireless work in the years that she held this role. She brought a passion and commitment which I think is going to be a hard act to follow. However, I will certainly strive to emulate her strong advocacy and practical efforts in ensuring that raising awareness of heart disease and stroke remains a high priority in this place.

I also look forward to working with my co-chair, the federal member for Capricornia, Michelle Landry. I am extremely pleased to be part of this collaborative approach and I look forward to working closely with both the Stroke Foundation and the Heart Foundation to develop new ways in which parliament can help promote the prevention and better management of cardiovascular disease through the activities of the friendship group. I was also pleased to meet this morning with Professor John Kelly, the CEO of the Heart Foundation, and Ms Sharon McGowan, the CEO of the Stroke Foundation. I look forward to working with them as well.

It is the suddenness and often randomness of heart attacks and strokes that is most striking and devastating for sufferers and their families. This story is all too familiar, and today my thoughts are also with my good friend, the Victorian Minister for Tourism and Major Events and Minister for Sport, the Hon. John Eren, who on Father's Day suffered a heart attack himself. John, who is painfully recovering well, was on his way to visit his own father when he began experiencing sharp chest pains. He took swift action, driving straight to the hospital, where he indeed suffered a heart attack and was immediately rushed into surgery and attended to. I want to pass on my thoughts and best wishes to John and his family as he makes a full recovery and returns to work. I also want to commend him for his quick thinking and fast action, because timing can make all the difference when it comes to a stroke or heart condition.

Twelve to 18 September is National Stroke Week. During this week we will all play a role in raising awareness about strokes. Too many people in our community are unaware of the signs of a stroke. Too many people who suffer strokes endure longer recovery periods, more damage and, unfortunately, even death because they did not seek medical attention urgently and when most needed. In the time that I am speaking in this House a person suffering from a stroke will have lost almost 10 million brain cells, and only five minutes without oxygen—the length of my speech—can cause permanent brain damage. Therefore, recognising the signs of stroke and acting quickly is extremely important. To help with this, the Stroke Foundation is promoting the simple-to-learn and remember four-point test known as the FAST test. F is for face: the first thing you need to think about is, 'Has my face drooped?' A is for arms: can I lift both my arms? S is for speech: is my speech slurred? Finally, T is for time, because if any of these signs are present time is critical and people are urged to seek attention, and those who are in the presence of someone who may be having a stroke are urged to seek medical attention immediately.

This very important message must be promoted in the wider community, including and especially in culturally and linguistically diverse communities, such as my own constituency in Calwell, to ensure that the public are able to recognise the signs, seek help sooner rather than later and, therefore, minimise the damage which a stroke can cause and, ultimately, maximise the chance of recovery, which may result in the passing of someone.

Stroke occurs when the blood supply to the brain is interrupted. Some strokes are fatal and others can cause permanent or temporary disability. Stroke kills more women than breast cancer and more men than prostate cancer. One in six Australians will have a stroke in their lifetime, yet only 50 per cent of Australians know the sign of a stroke.

Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

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

I would like to thank the member for Calwell for raising this important debate today. National Stroke Week is an important time to raise knowledge about the disease that can result in stroke and education that can save lives.

I will highlight some of the shocking statistics around strokes in Australia. Every 10 minutes someone in Australia suffers a stroke. Stroke is one of Australia's biggest killers and leading cause of disability. In one week there are almost 1,000 cases. In 2015 alone, there were over 51,000 incidents of stroke in Australia. All up, nearly 12,000 people will die this year from stroke and two-thirds of those who survive will be disabled. Stroke kills more women than breast cancer and more men than prostate cancer. Almost 440,000 Australians live as a survivor of stroke and the number grows every day. This is predicted to increase to over 700,000 within the next 15 years. In practical terms, this means that one in six people will have a stroke in their lifetime. More than just statistics, these people are someone's wife, husband, daughter, mother, father, son, sister, brother, partner or friend. Behind the numbers are real lives.

Sixty-five per cent of those people living with stroke also suffer a disability that impedes their ability to carry out daily activities unassisted. There are thousands of carers around the country devoting their lives to improve the standard of living for people who have suffered a stroke. The friends, families and carers are not accounted for in these figures, but their lives are undeniably and irreversibly changed. This is the story of stroke in Australia. It touches millions of lives in cities and towns from the country to the coast.

As the member for Bennelong, home to the Australian headquarters of many global pharmaceutical companies, I am very familiar with the work done to treat strokes and to look after the ongoing care of people who have suffered a stroke. Some of these companies have invested significant resources into stroke research and the development of breakthrough medicines that give stroke suffers a much higher rate of recovery and a better quality of life than the previous ancient treatments.

This week has one overriding purpose: to raise awareness of strokes and the ability to recognise if someone near you is—or if you are, in fact—having a stroke. As with many deceases, early diagnosis can make a huge difference in a person's ongoing quality of life. There is a simple acronym to help recognise the symptoms and it is worth repeating. The FAST test is an easy way to remember and recognise the signs of stroke. FAST stands for face, arms, speech and time to act. Using the FAST test involves asking simple questions. Face: check their face; has their mouth drooped? Arm: can they lift both arms? Speech: is their speech slurred? Do they understand you? Time: time is critical. If you see any of these signs, call 000 straight away.

This test has been promoted by the national Stroke Foundation since 2007 and has had some real success in raising awareness of the symptoms to watch out for. Importantly, the state which has spent the most on large public awareness programs is regularly shown to have the best awareness of the signs of stroke in Australia. Furthermore, independent analysis of Melbourne ambulance data has identified increased dispatches for stroke in the month following each FAST campaign push. Stroke awareness campaigns work and can save lives.

This brings us back to National Stroke Week—this week. There is a lifesaving message here. Sadly, many people miss out on accessing lifesaving treatment as they do not get to the hospital in time. Knowing the signs of stroke and calling 000 as soon as one strikes is crucial. Surviving strokes is common, but the subsequent quality of life is dependent on how quick the diagnosis is and how quickly you receive care. This Stroke Week is expected to see thousands of activities across Australia, from fundraising to education and awareness activities. It is also a perfect time to have a health check. Crucially, it will support this simple message: act fast. If you think you or a loved one are having a stroke, I urge you to take this action. I commend this motion to the House.

Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to strongly support this motion moved by the member for Calwell regarding this week being National Stroke Week. Despite significant progress in treatment strategies over the past two decades, stroke still remains the most common cause of disability worldwide and is responsible for the third-largest number of deaths. It is clear that, even though, as we have heard from the other speakers, great advancements and achievements have been made in the treatment of strokes and public awareness, there is still a lot to do. We still have a lot of work to do to ensure that we make people aware of what the signs are et cetera.

That is why it is so important this week to recognise and support the work that is being done by the national Stroke Foundation through initiatives such as National Stroke Week. While we do so, we must also acknowledge the many other bodies that aim to promote stroke awareness, as well as our fantastic doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and health workers. And, of course, we cannot forget the carers who so often do an amazing and difficult job looking after family members—partners, kids, parents et cetera. The Stroke Foundation work tirelessly in the areas of research, prevention and education. For example, they promote healthy lifestyle choices which will reduce the risk of stroke, encourage regular check-ups and assist people in raising awareness in their local communities. This is important because all the research tells us that many strokes can be prevented. The Stroke Foundation also focuses on helping all Australians understand the symptoms of stroke and to know what to do if one occurs.

The national Stroke Foundation runs a number of activities to promote such messages, including through this week the National Stroke Week. National Stroke Week takes place this week, starting on 12 September and running right through to 18 September. This is the week that we will be focused on raising the awareness of stroke. Anyone can get involved. Free resource packs are available to support workplaces, community groups, pharmacies and health professionals who are organising activities for National Stroke Week. This can perhaps include organising an awareness activity at your workplace, fundraising for the Stroke Foundation or hosting a health check. It is a fantastic way to engage in a fun way with your workplace, sporting and community friends and get a really good message out there about stroke prevention.

I cannot stress enough how vitally important getting this message out there is. As we heard earlier from the other speakers, taking immediate action when stroke is suspected is vital. A stroke is a brain attack and is always a medical emergency. Speedy action influences not only the treatment path for a person having a stroke but also their recovery. During a stroke, as we heard earlier, 1.9 million brain cells are lost per minute. This is why the Stroke Foundation organises a range of activities to get those messages out there and show people how important it is to act fast.' FAST' is the acronym that we heard earlier which teaches the most common signs of stroke—face weakness, arm weakness and speech difficulties—and prompts people to act fast. This is a handy and easy-to-use guide that can significantly raise awareness of stroke, stroke prevention and, ultimately, survival.

Other programs are Know your numbers and Australia's Biggest Blood Pressure Check. They aim to raise awareness of people checking their blood pressure and work in partnership with pharmacies to have community health check stations and information available. The Stroke Foundation also produces a range of education and information resources about stroke awareness and prevention that health professionals can provide to their patients or community, as well as dedicated seminars for health prevention.

Stroke remains the second biggest killer in Australia—after coronary heart disease—as well as being the leading cause of disability in Australia. We all have a responsibility to do something about this. In 2012, there were over 50,000 new and recurrent strokes. That is one every 10 minutes. In 2012, there were 420,000 people living with the effects of stroke, and 30 per cent of those people were of working age.

For all these reasons, I commend the Stroke Foundation for their great work and encourage as many people as possible to get involved in National Stroke Week.

Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was a privilege to second this motion which was brought to the chamber by the member for Calwell, and I do appreciate her raising this. Acting Deputy Speaker Hastie, I am sure that you, as a recently elected member, will have the Stroke Foundation knocking on your door at some stage, as they did when I first became the member for Swan in 2007. At that stage, they were working from a very small office in the bowels of Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. They had one little office and one person and they were unfunded. Since then, they have become part of the national identity, with people being made aware of stroke awareness week and stroke around Australia.

It is also interesting to note that this is timely as, unfortunately, on Saturday my mother-in-law suffered a massive stroke. My wife, Cheryl, is now in Melbourne by her bedside sitting with her to comfort her and be with her. Hopefully, she will get through this particular episode. I would like to thank the doctors and nurses at Austin Hospital who are looking after her and doing a magnificent job. I am sure that all my colleagues in the parliament wish Cheryl and her family the best. It is a timely reminder that stroke affects one in six people. Examples like that remind us all that we have to be vigilant and careful and make as much out of National Stroke Week as we can.

I am not going to give a personal medical history, but—and, Acting Deputy Speaker Hastie, you might not believe this—at one stage in my life I was a smoker. In 2002, after visiting my GP and deciding to give cigarettes away, my doctor put me onto some Cartia. I said, 'What are you giving me these for?' He said, 'These are to help prevent you having a stroke.' I said, 'Why's that?' He said, 'You've got a history of stroke in your family'—which I do have. I said, 'Why didn't you give them to me before?' He said, 'If you're silly enough to smoke, I wasn't going to give you something that was going to have a negative effect.'

It is a timely reminder that our health is up to us. It is our own responsibility and a matter for self-determination in regard to how many times we visit the doctor. I visited my doctor last week and had another check-up between sitting weeks of parliament. It reminds us all how important National Stroke Week is. I have an office staff member who woke up in the middle of the night and found himself slurring. He got his wife to take him to hospital, and he had had a ministroke. Last year, my brother woke up at three in the morning and recognised the symptoms because our family has a history. He got his daughter to take him to hospital and was able to recover from it immediately. He had to have two operations on the veins in his neck, which is apparently a highly dangerous operation, to clear out the 90 per cent blockages that he had.

Stroke is something that we can prevent by carefully looking after our own health. It is interesting to note that they have talked about the symptoms. As we have said, National Stroke Week takes place from 12 to 18 September 2016. It seeks to raise awareness about the need to prevent stroke in Australia, encourages all Australians to understand the symptoms of stroke and encourages healthy lifestyle choices and regular check-ups. Stroke remains one of Australia's biggest killers and the leading cause of disability. It kills more women than breast cancer and more men than prostate cancer, as we heard from the other speakers.

As we said, according to the Stroke Foundation, one in six people will have a stroke in their lifetime. I am not sure how many people here know, but I know immediately of six people who have had strokes. It is probably the six degrees of separation again: we know more and more people, as we get older, who have had a stroke. I am in the category: after being in parliament with the member for Moreton for seven years and the pressure I have been under from him, I could be a big candidate for a stroke—but do not take that personally, Member for Moreton!

A stroke happens when the supply of blood to the brain is suddenly interrupted. Blood may stop moving through the artery because of a clot or plaque, or even because the artery has broken or burst. When the blood stops flowing, the brain does not get oxygen and the brain cells in the area die. While some cause temporary disability, others cause permanent damage, and often strokes can be fatal. Some symptoms may last up to 24 hours and others can disappear within seconds. The Stroke Foundation notes that, the longer a stroke remains untreated, the greater the chance of stroke-related brain damage. Again, I applaud the member for Calwell for bringing this to the chamber, and I ask that all Australians make sure that they make themselves aware of National Stroke Week. Thank you.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too thank the member for Calwell, my colleague, for bringing this motion before the House today and during the important National Stroke Week. I do wish her very well in her deliberations as our new co-chair of the parliamentary group focused on stroke and heart disease. She will be a tremendous leader in that regard, I have no doubt.

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in Australia; every 10 minutes someone has a stroke. That is around 1,000 strokes a week and 50,000 a year. Stroke kills more women, as we have heard, than breast cancer and more men than prostate cancer. It affects young and old, men and women. Remarkably, in 2012, the total financial costs of stroke in Australia were estimated to be $5 billion. This is set to grow exponentially in the coming years, as there are predicted to be 709,000 people living with the effects of stroke by 2032.

This week is National Stroke Week, and the National Stroke Foundation is asking Australians, amongst other things, to better understand the impact that time has on stroke and stroke recovery. Stroke attacks the brain at an alarming rate. Just one minute can equate to 1.9 million brain cells lost, so a speedy reaction influences not only the treatment available to a person having a stroke but also their recovery.

I want to use this opportunity to speak of an often invisible aspect of the disease, and that is rehabilitation and assistance services for stroke survivors and their carers. Once a death sentence, in a span of just a generation stroke has gone from being a fatal event to being a treatable disease. It is now a disease of chronic disability, with 65 per cent of the 440,000 stroke survivors in Australia needing assistance to carry out daily living activities. Yet a staggering 80 per cent of those survivors have unmet needs. Family members and carers of people who have suffered a stroke in Newcastle tell me that there are significant gaps in transitional care, intensive rehabilitation services and adequate support services, particularly for those wishing to remain living at home post stroke.

I recently spoke to a constituent of mine who relayed to me the difficulty that she and her sister had in accessing services and support for their mother. Their mother, Mary, is a strong and fiercely independent woman. However, after she suffered a stroke this independence was lost overnight. Not surprisingly, Mary's family were determined to provide her with every opportunity possible to regain her independence and dignity. Mary's daughters described to me in shocking detail the struggles they had to endure just to get their mother access to what most would consider the most basic of post-stroke rehabilitation. They were told their mother was too old and that rehabilitation was really only for minor stroke sufferers. It was also suggested that institutionalisation might be the easier option for the family—that they should not bother pursuing any sort of recovery. Thankfully the sisters refused to accept such low expectations of their mother's capacity for rehabilitation.

When they took Mary home they found that there was little support and, particularly, little access to those home-based rehabilitation services that they so much needed. The family said that at the time when they were most vulnerable and most in need there was not the financial support or assistance, help and guidance available. Undeterred, however, they continued their search and fight for optimum treatments—often at great personal and emotional cost. They self-funded the physio and speech therapy that their mother required. Their sacrifices yielded profound results for Mary. She has made remarkable strides towards recovery. She is talking again, beginning to walk on her own and undertaking a whole range of activities in the house, including personal care. Her quality of life is improving every day.

I tell this story to argue for a change in the way that we view stroke sufferers, because it is a treatable disease. I call on everybody, including the government, to redouble our efforts in terms of prevention, research and treatment, and to recommit ourselves to addressing the unmet needs of stroke survivors and their carers in Australia.

Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to rise to support this motion. I congratulate the member for Calwell for bringing this motion before the House. The statistic that shocked me most when I was looking into strokes was the fact that one in six people in their lifetime will suffer a stroke. One in six—that is someone's sister, brother, wife, husband, son, daughter or even us. When you look at any group of 100 Australians, to think that one in six would suffer a stroke is shocking.

We know the numbers. In 2015 there were 50,000 new and recurrent strokes. That works out to be 1,000 for every week or one every 10 minutes. This debate goes for half an hour. In that half an hour there will probably be three strokes around our country. In 2012, nearly 130,000 or 30 per cent of stroke survivors were under the age of 65. It is not just the elderly; it is across many age spectrums.

We know that stroke kills more women than breast cancer and more men that prostate cancer. We know there are currently about 440,000 Australians living with the side effects of stroke, and by 2032 that is predicted to reach over 700,000. Sixty-five percent of those living with a stroke suffer a disability that impedes their ability to carry out their daily living activities unassisted.

Then there is the cost of strokes to the economy. In 2012 that cost was estimated to be $5 billion. There is an estimated $94.3 billion burden of disease costs for strokes, which is comparable to the $41 billion burden of disease costs that Deloitte Access Economics estimated for anxiety and depression.

Strokes do affect many people. I have experienced it in my family. A few years ago my father suffered a stroke. I came to pick him up from his house. As you do when you are very close, you often look at each other and you don't even have to say words to each other. We jumped in the car. We turned the radio on and listened to the radio. We were driving off and all of a sudden I mentioned something to him about one of the topics that was on the radio. He spoke back and I knew immediately that his voice was that of a little child. He had suffered the drooping of the mouth. He had suffered the classic symptoms of a stroke. We were already in the car, so I did not know whether it was best to pull over to the side of the road and call an ambulance or to keep going to the Campbelltown Hospital, which was about five or 10 minutes away. I elected to keep driving. I dropped him off in the emergency section at Campbelltown Hospital.

I would like to say what wonderful work the staff did there in admitting him quickly, recognising the symptoms and getting him straight in to some treatment. But the difficulty we had was that we were unable to ascertain when the stroke had actually occurred. We did not know whether the stroke had occurred a minute before he hopped in the car, an hour before he hopped in the car or sometime the previous night, and that, of course, affected the treatments. It is important when we see these numbers that are affecting our society.

We know that, the quicker someone can get to hospital, the greater chance they have of having the effects minimised. The FAST program which the National Stroke Foundation does is:

Face Check their face. Has their mouth drooped?

Arms Can they lift both arms?

Speech Is their speech slurred? Do they understand you?

Time Is critical.

Something like this—the costs to the individual citizen and the cost to our society—also shows why we have to keep on growing the economy, why we have to keep allowing the private sector to increase wealth in this economy, and why we have to manage it well, because we need to put more research dollars into treating stroke, we need to put more into rehabilitation or treatments, and we need to put more resources into prevention. But that is why our job here is to make sure we spend every dollar wisely, to grow that economy, so that we can put more into things that really count. I thank the House.

Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.