Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last night I met with Haemochromatosis Australia at the invitation of Boothby resident Matthew Howie, who I met while I was doorknocking last year. Haemochromatosis is an inherited disease which essentially means that people have too much iron in their system. One in 200 Australians have the genetic predisposition to develop it. Excess iron is stored in the organs and joints, and leads to very non-specific symptoms such as fatigue and joint pain. This leads to delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis. However, early detection and treatment is vital as leaving it untreated can lead to cirrhosis of the liver, liver cancer, diabetes, heart disease and early death. Treatment is as easy as giving blood regularly.

Professor John Olynyk, a consultant gastroenterologist and hepatologist at the Fiona Stanley Hospital, told us that haemochromatosis costs the Australian health system over $280 million per year, and that alternate pathways to diagnosis, including screening of at-risk individuals, has the potential to save the Medicare system significant amounts of money and provide a better population based outcome. I was pleased to hear that the haemochromatosis treatment pathway has been developed in many states and is under development in my home state of South Australia. Prevention and early intervention is always cheaper and more effective than treating the complex conditions that a disease such as this can cause.