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

On Monday, the Parliamentary Friends of Heart and Stroke Foundations, together with the Heart Foundation, Stroke Foundation, Sanofi, Bayer and Amgen, hosted the sixth annual heart health day here in Parliament House. I want to thank these organisations for their work in this space and to acknowledge the work of my colleague and fellow co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Heart and Stroke Foundations, Senator Wendy Askew, for her ongoing commitment.

As part of heart health check day, blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol levels were measured by qualified health professionals. I was encouraged by the large number of my colleagues, including myself, and staff who took the opportunity to see the health professionals and get screened at our annual event. This is something that we all want to see reflected within our own communities as well. Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death, causing one in four deaths in Australia. Tragically, one Australian loses their life to heart disease every 30 minutes.

The risk factors for my constituents, in particular, are alarming. They're reflected in a snapshot in our local heart health profile, outlining common heart disease risk factors, hospital admissions and death rates compared to state and national averages. In Calwell, the rate of heart related hospital admissions is 52 per 10,000 persons, which is higher than the national average of 42 per 10,000 persons. Calwell has a heart disease mortality relate of 67 per 100,000 persons, which is higher than the national average of 64 per 100,000 persons.

The prevalence of high blood pressure in my electorate is 24 per cent, which is higher than the national average of 23 per cent, and Calwell has a rate of physical inactivity at seven per cent, which is higher than the national average, which is 66 per cent. The prevalence of smoking in my electorate is 19 per cent, which is higher than the national average of 15 per cent. The prevalence of obesity in my electorate is at 37 per cent, which is higher than the national average of 31 per cent. Yet, as the Heart Foundation outlines, many people may not know their risk of heart disease especially since they often can't feel any risk factors, such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol.

I do encourage members of my community, along with all Australians, to have regular heart health checks with their GPs. These checks help people find out their five-year risk of having a heart attack or stroke and help them learn the steps they need to take to lower their risks. It's an important first step to protecting your heart. The work that's done up here to allow the Heart Foundation and the Stroke Foundation to inform us and keep us abreast of all factors that lead to heart disease is very important both for us and for our constituencies.