Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Ryan for putting forward this motion on the impact of shingles and postherpetic neuralgia, commonly known as PHN, and I am pleased to speak on the motion. Shingles is a common viral disease that affects about one in three Australians during their lifetime. As the shadow minister for ageing I have met many people who have talked to me about issues such as this. Everyone who develops shingles will have experienced an episode of chickenpox, often some decades earlier, perhaps in childhood. If you have not had shingles, it is likely that you will have a family member or friend who has had it. Symptoms include localised pain, described as burning, numbness or tingling; a sensitivity to touch; the emergence of a red rash a few days after the pain commences; fluid-filled blisters that break open and crust over; and itching. So you can imagine the challenge for older Australians, particularly those who are not as mobile as they once were.

This is a particular challenge for those in residential aged-care facilities and for those carers who are looking after older Australians with these problems at home. The rash can appear on a person's face or neck but classically takes the shape of a belt or a band.

A 2014 survey, conducted by National Seniors, found that of those respondents who had shingles, 51 per cent said that it affected their social activities, 45 per cent said it affected their daily household chores and 32 per cent said it affected their work.

PHN is a persistent chronic pain syndrome. Shingles is certainly unpleasant but PHN can be an absolute misery for those people who are suffering from it. The National Centre for Immunisation, Research and Surveillance reports that 150,000 new cases of shingles appear in Australia each year and 70 per cent of those are of patients over 50 years of age. Beyond the age of 70, the rate of shingles is about 14 per cent for every 1,000 of population. About half of those people who live to age 85 will develop the disease. About 15 per cent of patients with shingles over 50 years of age will develop PHN.

About 80 to 85 per cent of PHN sufferers are over 80 years of age. While there is yet no cure for shingles or PHN I commend the government for their decision on the recent vaccine Zostavax. It has been developed to reduce incidences of both these diseases. Encouragingly, the study that was done by the NCIRS reported that the vaccine Zostavax was found to reduce the functional impact of shingles by 59 per cent on those people over 80 years of age who developed the disease.

We on this side of politics note that the government have listed this vaccine on the National Immunisation Program in the 2015 budget. We thank them for that. It will be subsidised for those Australians aged from 70 to 79.

While this news is welcome for many Australians, I do note the last part of the member for Ryan's motion:

… acknowledges that preventative health measures such as vaccination will help protect the health of older Australians and safeguard their ability to work, care and volunteer.

About six million Australians volunteer. It is estimated that this contributes about $15 billion to the national economy every year. So it is an absolute shame that, across two budgets, the government have cut funding for preventative health programs. We note that, after cutting about $57 billion in their first budget and through their subsequent decisions, they have cut another $2 billion in their latest budget. If you look at page 110 of Budget Paper No. 2, there is a cut of almost a billion dollars to an undisclosed number of health programs.

Another of my roles is that of shadow minister for Indigenous affairs. This government has cut $534 million in funding across the forward estimates—including nearly $146 million this year—from Indigenous programs. That includes cuts of $165 million to funding for Indigenous health, in particular funding for community controlled health clinics that make a big contribution not only to Indigenous employment but to health, wellness and welfare. I urge the government to reconsider those cuts. While they have made a good decision in relation to vaccination, I urge them to look at the cuts they have made in the last two budgets to preventative health programs—and to reverse those decisions.

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