Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to contribute to this motion recognising World Tuberculosis Day 2018, which was held on the weekend to raise awareness of the devastating health, social, and economic consequences of tuberculosis. The theme this year is 'Wanted: leaders for a TB-free world'. It urges people across the social and political spectrum to do what they can to lead the change in their part of the world.

I'd like to thank the member for Leichhardt for moving the motion. He's been a longstanding and passionate advocate for bringing an end to this disease, and he's done a fantastic job, as has the co-chair of the Australian parliamentary TB caucus, the member for Kingsford Smith, Matt Thistlethwaite. The TB caucus, of which I'm also a member, brings together federal parliamentarians to develop strategies and raise awareness of TB, with a focus on its impact in our own region. It's just one of a global network of parliamentary groups in the Global TB Caucus.

Tuberculosis is a diabolical disease, caused by exposure to bacteria from an infected person. It usually attacks the lungs, but it can also spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms include extreme cough, chest pain, coughing up blood, sweats, chills and fever. It's still the top infectious killer globally, with more than 10 million cases in 2015 alone. Of these cases, 1.4 million people lost their lives. If left untreated, half of those who are infected will die. While there are some treatments for TB, they are lengthy and incredibly burdensome to patients, taking more than a year to complete. For a range of reasons, many people just aren't able to complete the treatment course, and there's a growing problem with the strains of the disease that don't respond to antibiotics at all.

In 1993, the gravity of the situation was recognised by the World Health Organization, which declared TB a global health emergency. In 2015, it released the End TB Strategy, which aims to reduce TB deaths by 95 per cent and to cut new cases by 90 per cent between 2015—which I remind us was three years ago—and 2035. In 2017, goal 3 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals set a 2030 date for eradication, and I believe we can get there. We're now at a critical juncture, with an enormous number of game-changing advances before us or just around the corner. Defeating TB means giving patients and health systems better and simpler tools. We must invest in new technologies and innovation to deliver shorter, more effective treatments. We need to move from the old TB wards and isolation rooms, with the need for refrigeration and injections and the onerous treatment regimes, into some space that is simpler, with faster tests, and safe, effective tablets that can be taken at home. We also need an effective vaccine.

While Australia has one of the lowest TB rates in the world, we mustn't think it's not our problem. In fact, TB remains a critical issue in our country, with 60 per cent of cases occurring on our doorstep, in the Asia-Pacific region. As this motion outlines, Papua New Guinea has one of the highest rates in the Pacific, with an estimated 33,000 cases. Some great work has been done in PNG to fight the disease, including the treaty village resilience project, in which the Burnet Institute and the global fund worked in partnership with the PNG government and the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre to build capacity for improved health services in the Western Province villages. But we cannot drop the ball now. The Australian government absolutely must provide continued funding for tuberculosis prevention and treatment in PNG, and continued funding for the development of improved diagnostics and medicines to combat TB into the future.

This year, 2018, is going to be critical in the global fight to end TB, not least because of the United Nations high-level meeting in September. Heads of state from around the world will gather in New York City to discuss and commit to the actions that will be needed to eradicate TB—and Australia must do its share. Now is the time to reaffirm our commitment to the global fight against TB and to redouble our efforts to end this damaging scourge.

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