Senate debates

Monday, 27 March 2017

Questions without Notice

International Development Assistance

2:59 pm

Photo of Linda ReynoldsLinda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Senator Fierravanti-Wells. Can the minister please inform the Senate how the Turnbull government is using its overseas development assistance aid to tackle the high rates of tuberculosis in the Indo-Pacific region?

Photo of Concetta Fierravanti-WellsConcetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | | Hansard source

I thank Senator Reynolds for her question. Of course, this is a timely question, because last Friday was World Tuberculosis Day. TB is still a major issue worldwide. Over 10 million people per annum contract TB, and, worse, about 1.8 million die from it. TB kills more people than any other infectious disease—more than Ebola or even HIV/AIDS—and, of course, it is particularly prevalent in our neighbourhood. Our closest neighbour, Papua New Guinea, has about 28,000 cases of TB per annum, and we have committed about $60 million between 2011 and 2017 to combat this, with a comprehensive package of practical measures to improve TB control in Papua New Guinea, most especially drug-resistant TB. It is producing tangible results and we are seeing that more people are staying and taking their medications over the requisite six-month period, and that is very good to see.

In addition to supporting countries like Papua New Guinea directly, we are also contributing internationally, with $220 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria over 2017 to 2019, and that is a 10 per cent increase on a previous pledge. The grants by the Global Fund have resulted in over 16½ million people being treated for tuberculosis, including over eight million people in our region, since 2002. We are also investing in cutting-edge research and development via our product development partnerships and we have invested about $30 million into that, and this, of course, is drawing investments that bring new drug-resistant TB treatments to the market. (Time expired)

Photo of Stephen ParryStephen Parry (President) Share this | | Hansard source

Senator Reynolds, a supplementary question.

3:01 pm

Photo of Linda ReynoldsLinda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Can the minister outline to the Senate why it is important to fight the prevalence of TB in our region?

Photo of Concetta Fierravanti-WellsConcetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | | Hansard source

(—) (): Australia has one of the lowest infection rates for TB in the world. It is a disease that we have beaten along with smallpox and polio, but it continues to strain the health systems and take lives especially in the countries in our region—on our very doorstep in Papua New Guinea, particularly in the Western Province, which is very worrying given the re-emergence of drug-resistant TB. The World Health Organization estimates close to half a million cases of drug-resistant TB are occurring every year. Also worrying is the fact that only one in four cases are actually diagnosed and, even more worrying, only one in 10 cases are actually successfully treated. It strains the health systems of our neighbours—for example, Kiribati has the fifth largest incident rate per capita. (Time expired)

Photo of Stephen ParryStephen Parry (President) Share this | | Hansard source

Senator Reynolds, a final supplementary question.

3:02 pm

Photo of Linda ReynoldsLinda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Can the minister also explain how the actions taken by the Australian government to prevent and treat TB are of direct benefit to Australia?

Photo of Concetta Fierravanti-WellsConcetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | | Hansard source

Fighting and beating back TB is not only good because it is helping our neighbouring countries but also vital for economic stability and health security in the Indo-Pacific region. Helping to strengthen the health systems of our neighbours will strengthen our regional preparedness and the capacity to deal with emerging health threats not just of TB but of other existing diseases, and of course diseases do not know boundaries. With an increasing number of Australians travelling in our region, we are seeing an increasing number of cases, and for that reason we do need a strong, resilient and healthy region. For this reason, we are establishing a regional health security initiative, where we are going to meet our election commitment of $100 million over five years. We want our region to be healthy, because it is in Australia's national security interests. (Time expired)

Photo of George BrandisGeorge Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | | Hansard source

I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.