John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today is World Stroke Day, highlighting that one in six people world wide will have a stroke at some stage during their lives. Each year, an estimated 60,000 strokes occur in Australia, with 10,000 specifically due to atrial fibrillation, the most common type of irregular heartbeat and something that effects over half a million Australians. Deloitte Access Economics estimates the cost of this disease as over $300 million a year. One in four people diagnosed with atrial fibrillation are not treated, leading to around 7,400 strokes at a cost of around $217 million.

More than a year ago the government announced its review into anticoagulation therapies in atrial fibrillation. The issues and options paper noted that between 240,000 and 400,000 people have atrial fibrillation in Australia, with only 40 per cent to 60 per cent of people receiving stroke prevention treatment. The rest are at a much elevated risk of stroke. It has been over a year since this review was announced and we are still waiting. In the meantime, our nation's seniors are left to use ancient remedies like Warfarin, despite the invention of far superior medicines. Over 60 countries, including New Zealand and Scotland, have access to the newer medicines. In Australia, it has been left to pharmaceutical companies like Boehringer Ingelheim, who have supplied their new medicine for free to 25,000 sufferers of atrial fibrillation. I take the opportunity on this World Stroke Day to implore the government to act on this important national health issue.