Just three dollars per head could save thousands of Aussies from stroke
May 24, 2013
National Stroke Foundation CEO Dr Erin Lalor today launched a National Action Plan Stroke in response to significant community concern about the way stroke is managed in Australia.
The three-year, $198m policy response outlines a raft of measures to tackle Australia’s second biggest killer, a disease that leaves thousands of Australians dead and disabled each year and which has been ignored by successive Australian Governments.
Dr Lalor joined with 31 year old stroke survivor and mother of one, Lina Brohier, to call on the Australian Government to fund the five key policy proposals in the National Action Plan and set Australia on the path towards delivery of world-best standard stroke care.
“Stroke has been a designated national health priority since 1996 but has never received designated funding for a stroke strategy”, Dr Lalor said.
“We pride ourselves on the quality of our healthcare system in this country and yet stroke care continues to fall short of world-best standard with no commitment to improvement”.
“For $3 per Australian, per year, we can start to improve stroke care, reduce the death and reduce the disability.”
Throughout 2012 the Stroke Foundation has borne witness to an increasing groundswell of concern about the quality and breadth of stroke care through a series of national forums, stroke survivor surveys and the first ever Stroke Survivor and Carer Summit at Parliament House in Canberra.
Survivors, carers and health professionals are in furious agreement. The gaps in stroke care are too large and there is an urgent need to fix the problem.
Stroke survivor Lina Brohier is one of the lucky ones. She was just 31 years old when she had a stroke in 2008 and now, four years later, with a one-year-old son, Ms Brohier is more grateful than ever for the therapy she received that ensured she made a good stroke recovery.
“The stroke left me with no muscle movement on the right hand side of my body,” Ms Brohier said.
“With intensive rehabilitation I was able to get those muscles working again which means I can hold and care for my baby. I can’t imagine what life would have been like had I not been able to hold him with both arms and yet I know that permanent disability is a reality for so many stroke survivors.”
Support for quality stroke rehabilitation is one focus of the National Action Plan which also calls for more and better quality stroke units, support to raise awareness of the signs of stroke and investment in infrastructure and resources to improve access to stroke units for Australians outside major cities.
Dr Lalor said the Stroke Foundation has started talks with the Federal Government and the Opposition about the urgent need for stroke investment and was hopeful that commitments would be forthcoming.
“We have provided them with a copy of this Plan and we will brief them over the coming weeks and months”, she said.
“They know there are 350,000 people living with stroke in Australia. When you add families to this the size of the stroke affected community becomes really large. As a community they all know it’s time for urgent change so that fewer people experience unnecessary suffering in the future.”
National Action Plan Stroke
The plan, which has been costed at $198 million over three years, contains a raft of measures that include:
Boosting the Know your numbers health check program to identify Australians at risk of stroke ($16.5 million over three years), and an integrated, subsidised health check for diabetes, kidney disease and cardiovascular disease. This would consolidate existing, underutilised health checks and make it easier for people to self-manage their risk (uncosted).
Increasing the number of Australians eligible to receive time-critical stroke treatment through a national awareness campaign designed to ensure every person can recognise the signs of stroke ($6.5m over three years)
Improving the standard of stroke care in hospital by increasing access to stroke units and boosting the quality of existing care ($121m over three years)
Introducing a support safety-net for stroke survivors in the community by improving hospital discharge planning, and providing individual follow-up of survivors to check on their care needs ($21m over three years)
Research to improve understanding of how best to support stroke rehabilitation, and ensure appropriate emotional and psychological support ($33m over three years)
Health funding in Australia at a glance*:
National Health Priority Area Program Funding 2010-11 to 2013-14 Burden of disease[1] Total deaths[2]
Cardiovascular disease (heart, stroke and vascular disease) $0.0086bn 18.0% 32.8%
Cancer $2.5bn 19.0% 29.8%
Mental health $1.4bn 13.0% 4.6%
Diabetes $1.6bn 5.0% 3.0%
[1] Australian Institute of Heath and Welfare (2003) The burden of disease and injury in Australia 2003
[2] Australian Bureau of Statistics (2011) Causes of death 2009
The three-year, $198m policy response outlines a raft of measures to tackle Australia’s second biggest killer, a disease that leaves thousands of Australians dead and disabled each year and which has been ignored by successive Australian Governments.
Dr Lalor joined with 31 year old stroke survivor and mother of one, Lina Brohier, to call on the Australian Government to fund the five key policy proposals in the National Action Plan and set Australia on the path towards delivery of world-best standard stroke care.
“Stroke has been a designated national health priority since 1996 but has never received designated funding for a stroke strategy”, Dr Lalor said.
“We pride ourselves on the quality of our healthcare system in this country and yet stroke care continues to fall short of world-best standard with no commitment to improvement”.
“For $3 per Australian, per year, we can start to improve stroke care, reduce the death and reduce the disability.”
Throughout 2012 the Stroke Foundation has borne witness to an increasing groundswell of concern about the quality and breadth of stroke care through a series of national forums, stroke survivor surveys and the first ever Stroke Survivor and Carer Summit at Parliament House in Canberra.
Survivors, carers and health professionals are in furious agreement. The gaps in stroke care are too large and there is an urgent need to fix the problem.
Stroke survivor Lina Brohier is one of the lucky ones. She was just 31 years old when she had a stroke in 2008 and now, four years later, with a one-year-old son, Ms Brohier is more grateful than ever for the therapy she received that ensured she made a good stroke recovery.
“The stroke left me with no muscle movement on the right hand side of my body,” Ms Brohier said.
“With intensive rehabilitation I was able to get those muscles working again which means I can hold and care for my baby. I can’t imagine what life would have been like had I not been able to hold him with both arms and yet I know that permanent disability is a reality for so many stroke survivors.”
Support for quality stroke rehabilitation is one focus of the National Action Plan which also calls for more and better quality stroke units, support to raise awareness of the signs of stroke and investment in infrastructure and resources to improve access to stroke units for Australians outside major cities.
Dr Lalor said the Stroke Foundation has started talks with the Federal Government and the Opposition about the urgent need for stroke investment and was hopeful that commitments would be forthcoming.
“We have provided them with a copy of this Plan and we will brief them over the coming weeks and months”, she said.
“They know there are 350,000 people living with stroke in Australia. When you add families to this the size of the stroke affected community becomes really large. As a community they all know it’s time for urgent change so that fewer people experience unnecessary suffering in the future.”
National Action Plan Stroke
The plan, which has been costed at $198 million over three years, contains a raft of measures that include:
Boosting the Know your numbers health check program to identify Australians at risk of stroke ($16.5 million over three years), and an integrated, subsidised health check for diabetes, kidney disease and cardiovascular disease. This would consolidate existing, underutilised health checks and make it easier for people to self-manage their risk (uncosted).
Increasing the number of Australians eligible to receive time-critical stroke treatment through a national awareness campaign designed to ensure every person can recognise the signs of stroke ($6.5m over three years)
Improving the standard of stroke care in hospital by increasing access to stroke units and boosting the quality of existing care ($121m over three years)
Introducing a support safety-net for stroke survivors in the community by improving hospital discharge planning, and providing individual follow-up of survivors to check on their care needs ($21m over three years)
Research to improve understanding of how best to support stroke rehabilitation, and ensure appropriate emotional and psychological support ($33m over three years)
Health funding in Australia at a glance*:
National Health Priority Area Program Funding 2010-11 to 2013-14 Burden of disease[1] Total deaths[2]
Cardiovascular disease (heart, stroke and vascular disease) $0.0086bn 18.0% 32.8%
Cancer $2.5bn 19.0% 29.8%
Mental health $1.4bn 13.0% 4.6%
Diabetes $1.6bn 5.0% 3.0%
[1] Australian Institute of Heath and Welfare (2003) The burden of disease and injury in Australia 2003
[2] Australian Bureau of Statistics (2011) Causes of death 2009