Richard Di Natale (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its most common form heart disease causes one-fifth of all deaths in Australia, and it affects more Australians than any other disease,

(ii) inequality is rife in CVD, with the huge impact of this disease disproportionately borne by those already facing socio-economic disadvantage, those in remote locations, women, and those with lack of access to health services,

(iii) the inequality in heart disease is most significant for Indigenous Australians,­ with Indigenous CVD sufferers more likely to develop severe heart disease complicated by diabetes, renal disease and other forms of vascular disease at a much younger age, and

(iv) despite progressive improvements in treatment of acute CVD events, those who survive their first cardiac event will inevitably develop a chronic form of heart disease that will reduce their quality of life, and reduce longevity – increasing the need for prevention, as well as treatment; and

(b) calls on the Government to address both the staggering rates of CVD and the entrenched inequality in heart disease by implementing the recommendations of the final report of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence to Reduce Inequality in Heart Disease, The Heart of Inequality, including:

(i) establishing an Inequality in Heart Disease Advisory Group to provide independent recommendations,

(ii) investing in definitive studies into cardiovascular risk and disease in Australia to more accurately guide cost-effective prevention, treatment and management programs in high-risk populations, and

(iii) funding a national campaign to raise awareness of CVD in high-risk populations, including, in particular, a targeted campaign for women given their higher risk.

Question agreed to.