Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Meniere's disease is a condition that really is an enormous imposition on many Australians, and I am pleased that the House has afforded some time this evening to talk about the condition and what we can do about it and the support that is available. The motion that stands in my name recognises the work of Meniere's Australia, a fantastic group of people. Their efforts in developing and improving services to Australians living with the condition—which can, as I mentioned earlier, be extraordinarily distressing—are to be commended. Their work with Meniere's disease and other vestibular disorders is to be recognised tonight in this debate.

The motion also recognises that vertigo, dizziness, balance problems, hearing loss, and tinnitus are common symptoms of Meniere's disease, which leads to sudden debilitating attacks that can cause loss of employment, social isolation and loss of confidence, particularly for people concerned that the condition limits their mobility and capacity to get out of the home and also impacts on their personal capabilities of leading an active and independent everyday life.

The motion also recognises the exact number of people that live with vestibular disorders. Meniere's disease is not well known and the conditions are underdiagnosed and underreported. It touches on some research from the United States that indicates up to five per cent of the population may be living with one or more vestibular conditions, which in our case would translate to around one million Australians.

The motion also points out the simple, and I hope obvious, fact to the parliament that Meniere's Australia support groups could do a whole lot more with a bit of additional support in the counselling they provide, the practical advice they offer to families and those suffering with vestibular conditions, and the information and peer support network could extend further. For those that are listening, particularly philanthropic organisations or even those operating in the hearing loss area, some support for Meniere's Australia would be a terrific measure.

Meniere's disease is a condition in which there is excess fluid in the inner ear. The excess fluid disturbs the ear's balance and hearing mechanisms and produces a range of symptoms, some of which I touched on earlier. It is quite a frightening condition in that the attacks usually centre around vertigo. I had the misfortune of an inner ear infection a few months ago and Meniere's Australia representatives reminded me that I had a first-hand sense of what many of their members were experiencing quite regularly. It is very disturbing when one's mobility is completely compromised and you are not even sure whether you can lie still in bed with any great grace. You can imagine the enormous impact this must have on the quality of life of people who suffer from this condition and these quite debilitating symptoms regularly.

The attacks of vertigo usually occur in clusters with varying periods of remission. It might be matter of days or some years between attacks. The attacks can occur without warning and you cannot predict how severe the vertigo will be or how long it will last. Tinnitus, distorted hearing, pressure in the ear and a feeling of fullness in the ear due to the fluid build-up often occur in conjunction with vertigo. In the early stages of the condition, hearing returns to normal levels following an attack but the disease progresses measurably and permanent hearing loss occurs. Estimates vary but around 90 per cent of people with Meniere's have the disease in only one ear when first diagnosed. However, around 50 per cent of these may go on to develop the disease in both ears.

According to the ABS population health survey in 2005, Meniere's disease affects one in every 600 Australians. It appears that Meniere's is diagnosed, if it is diagnosed at all, around the late 30s to early 50s. It is uncommon for children to be diagnosed with the condition. Unfortunately this period, this window in people's lives, when diagnosis is most likely occurs coincides with some of the busiest times in their lives in careers and families.

There is no known medical cure for Meniere's. The condition can be managed to some degree through medication, diet, stress reduction, exercise programs, natural therapies and, as a last resort, perhaps surgery. This is where Meniere's Australia's work becomes so important in providing information to sufferers and their families about how to manage the condition, how to sustain the best quality of life and how to engage in their community and with their work and families, mindful that there is no medical cure for the condition. There are treatment options for acute attacks of vertigo as well as options for managing the symptoms that are experienced and possibly some steps that might reduce the severity and frequency of further attacks.

Although it is not life-threatening, the disease can be life destroying. There is a great deal of fear and uncertainty which may accompany the symptoms and a sufferer may appear perfectly well and then be unable to stand up straight or unable to hear properly or be coping with severe and uncontrollable ringing or roaring noises in their ears. This can result in enormous problems for their employment, resulting in financial hardships and difficulty with family and friends. So, whilst the condition may be able to be alleviated and managed, it is, sadly, normally a progressive condition that is irreversible. As I said, the causes as well as treatments remain unknown. The anxiety it provokes can be extraordinarily debilitating and create of itself a sense of stress, suffering and helplessness. This is why organisations like Meniere's Australia are so crucial to steer sufferers and their families through what can be an extraordinarily horrendous time for them and a time of enormous adjustment.

Meniere's disease falls between the cracks in the current health care system. Sensory hearing loss is identified as one of the worst consequences of Meniere's disease, and I was happy to be talking with the Australian Hearing Service, which has a terrific outlet located in my electorate in Frankston, about the overlap between the treatments and services they provide and conditions such as Meniere's which may not immediately appear to be a hearing condition, but that is where some of the most profound symptoms arise. However, there is the chronic illness component with the vertigo attacks and the vestibular impairment that is not addressed well by these current health system arrangements.

When we looked at a 2007 report known as Listen here!: The economic impact and cost of hearing loss in Australia, the economic consequences through lost productivity and direct cost was enormous: about $6.7 billion a year lost to the Australian economy because of hearing loss conditions, and Meniere's is very much a part of that. It is well documented that the real cost might be as high as $11.75 billion, which in 2007 was 1.4 per cent of GDP, according to research by Access Economics. This is an enormously significant impact on an individual's life and their families but the consequences for the nation, in my view, warrant it getting greater attention in our health strategies.

We need to know how many people actually have this condition—that is the first impediment in tackling it: in not knowing what the incidence and prevalence of different conditions around Meniere's and the hearing loss that results actually is. I mention that 2005 survey that shows that there is one in 600 or 606, as the case may be, is what the ABS puts it at. But there are potential data collection points right throughout the health system, when patients present with symptoms of hearing loss, vertigo and tinnitus at ear, nose and throat and neurologist clinics and hospitals across Australia. Some effort to capture that would help to inform policymakers about what is the best thing that we can do.

While all this is going on and there is a lack of coordinated effort in terms of the health system generally, the Meniere's Support Group and Meniere's Australia are simply getting on with the work. In their own survey of their members in 2006, they captured the spread of diagnostic age between 30 and 50, and 54 per cent of those that were members were diagnosed while they were still actively in the workforce—so you can see that economic consequence. Twenty-one per cent of the members reported that they had to take paid leave because of their Meniere's condition and 16 per cent said they had reduced working hours.

Tonight's motion is to add strength to the arm of Meniere's Australia. I am a little bit parochial. Its information resource centre happens to be located in Dunkley at very modest offices as they look use new technology to share their learnings about how to cope with the condition and maintain a quality of life. Natasha Harrington-Benton is the director of Meniere's UK and she was in our country recently to do presentations in both Melbourne and Sydney with Professor Steve O'Leary and Professor Bill Gibson, hoping to internationalise the work and the insights, and to make sure that there is more peer support and resources available. Neither the group here in Australia, nor in the UK, get government funding. It is a bit of a shout out to the philanthropic community to get behind Meniere's Australia. I also want to tip my hat to John Cook and the very dedicated team at the resource centre; and also to Lynn Polson OAM. Her work for Meniere's Australia—and John's—is to be commended. (Time expired)

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