| Problem: | The South Australian Budget was handed down on 6 June 2024, and Stroke Foundation again did not receive any funding for our F.A.S.T (Face, Arms, Speech, Time) Community Education Campaign, StrokeLink quality improvement program, or our StrokeLine Navigator Program to help survivors in their recovery and to help prevent secondary stroke in South Australia. You can read our budget pitch. |
| Solution: | We need your help to let the South Australian Premier and Health Minister know this is not ok and the funding decision needs to be overturned. We know time is critical in stroke, and we have no time to waste to ensure more South Australians are stroke-smart, know the signs of a stroke and to get the support they need now. Lives will be saved and improved! |
| What we need you to do: | Send an email to the Premier and Minister for Health today. (See example email below.) |
Tools to help you
We have drafted a shell email for you to send to the South Australian Premier and Minister for Health.
- Please send the email and copy (CC) Stroke Foundation’s Advocacy Email so we know you sent it.
- Also make sure you CC your local MP! You can find your local electorate and member of parliament via Members of SA Parliament Search
Example email for you to edit and send:
TO: premier@sa.gov.au; MinisterForHealth@sa.gov.au
CC: advocacy@strokefoundation.org.au, [your local MP’s email!]
Subject: Please reverse your decision and urgently fund the Stroke Foundation’s programs
Dear Premier and Minister
I am calling on you to urgently reverse your decision not to fund Stroke Foundation’s F.A.S.T (Face, Arms, Speech, Time) awareness campaign, StrokeLink Quality Improvement Program, and StrokeLine Navigator Program in South Australia.
[INSERT SENTENCE ABOUT YOUR CONNECTION TO STROKE]
For a small amount of funding in the budget you could have a huge impact on improving the outcomes for the South Australian community and over 35,000 survivors of stroke living in our state.
When a stroke strikes, it attacks up to 1.9 million brain cells every minute!
We know that if a person experiencing the signs of a stroke gets to hospital within the 4.5-hour window, it will drastically improve their outcomes and prevent death and disability.
Right now, only 42 percent of South Australians experiencing a stroke are getting to hospital within this window. We also know from a recent F.A.S.T (Face, Arms, Speech, Time) Awareness Survey, that 1 in 3 South Australians cannot even name one of the urgent signs of a stroke.
We can turn this around, but we need South Australians to know the signs of a stroke and call 000 immediately.
Stroke Foundation has been running stroke awareness and community education campaigns for over a decade and it has proven to make a difference in other states and territories that invest in improving public stroke knowledge.
South Australia has failed to make this investment over many years, and we are seeing the impact of this playing out in the lack of awareness and public knowledge to call 000 at the first sign of a stroke being worse than the national average in South Australia.
We also know that South Australians are leaving hospital without appropriate knowledge and advice for preventing secondary stroke and this can be remedied by investing in a SA StrokeLine Navigator Program. This would impact more than 35,000 South Australians living with stroke in our community now, and over 2,100 more who will experience their first stroke this year, and help them lead healthier lives.
I look forward to receiving your reply on this very important issue.
Yours sincerely
FULL NAME: Provide your full name so that they know you want your voice to count.
ADDRESS: Provide your residential address so that they know you are a South Australian resident.
EMAIL ADDRESS: Provide your email address in your signature