Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I congratulate the member for Ryan for bringing this important motion on shingles and postherpetic neuralgia to the House. Parliamentary Friends of Seniors, which is co-chaired by the member of Swan, Steve Irons, and me, has hosted two events around this. It became very obvious to us that the one thing that was needed was for this vaccine to be listed. Everyone who has had chicken pox is at risk of developing shingles. Older Australians bear the brunt of this disease, and by 85 years of age one in two Australians will have had shingles. So, it is one in three for all Australians, and one in two once you reach the age of 85.

Shingles pain can really impact quality of life to a degree comparable to a heart attack, type 2 diabetes and depression. And shingles, as has been mentioned by previous speakers, is accompanied by postherpetic neuralgia, or PHN, which causes the significant and debilitating pain that has been talked about in this House today—pain that can affect all parts of the body and pain that can also impact the optic nerve, which is one of the worst forms of shingles. There are 150,000 cases of shingles in Australia each year. Among Australians aged 60 and over it accounts for 3,609 hospitalisations, costing $16.7 million each year, and 105,000 GP consultations, costing $3.3 million a year. So, any effort to reduce these hospitalisations, any effort to reduce the pain, is well and truly welcome by those of us on this side of the House.

There have been a number of studies that support the vaccine. Since 2005 there have been several large studies. One study involving 38,546 patients aged 60 and over showed an overall 50 per cent reduction in shingles. Another study, of 75,760 people who received the vaccine, found a 55 per cent reduction in shingles. The most recent study, conducted in the US and involving 766,330 randomly chosen people, showed a reduction of 59 per cent in the PHN and 48 per cent in shingles. It is a very debilitating illness. It is an illness that has its greatest impact on people who are older, and it starts with a rash. Antiviral therapy can reduce the severity and duration of shingles but does not prevent the PHN. To actually get an impact you must get that antiviral treatment within the first 24 hours.

So, this vaccine will make a difference in the lives of tens of thousands of Australians—our older Australians, who are particularly adversely affected by shingles. I really welcome the listing of the vaccine, but I am very disappointed that it will not be listed on the PBS until 1 November 2016. That is after the election. It is a long time from now, and in that period of time there will be another 150,000 people who suffer from shingles in the next year, and if you halve that and add another 75,000 onto it, it is a significant number of people who are going to be debilitated by shingles. I call on the government to reconsider bringing that date forward, and I congratulate the member for Ryan on her fantastic motion. (Time expired)

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