Matt Thistlethwaite (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) Charcot Marie Tooth disease (CMT) is the most common form of inherited motor and sensory neuropathy,

(ii) there is no cure for CMT and while most sufferers live a normal lifespan, many do so with severe disabilities,

(iii) estimates are that around one in every 2 500 Australians is affected by CMT,

(iv) while CMT is more common than diseases such as muscular dystrophy, there is a low level of community awareness of CMT, particularly amongst Indigenous Australians,

(v) genetic counselling and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis means that those carrying the CMT gene can now conceive without the 50 per cent risk of passing CMT to their offspring, and

(vi) despite the advances, detection and genetic counselling, low awareness and detection of CMT means that this disease is still spreading to future generations, when it could be stopped;

(b) notes the need for more investment for research into the cause, care and cure of CMT; and

(c) as a first step, calls on the Government to provide funding for projects which will lead to the eradication of CMT.

Question agreed to.