Page 2882 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 11 October 2022
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disadvantaged people, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and people experiencing mental health challenges.
While deaths due to ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular diseases decreased from 2011 to 2020 by almost 23 per cent and almost 16 per cent respectively, there is still more that Australian governments need to do. The National Strategic Action Plan for Heart Disease and Stroke outlines four key areas: prevention and early detection, diagnosis and treatment, support and care, and research. Getting these actions right through national collaboration will mean we can improve outcomes and avoid hospital admissions. More than one-third of the burden of disease is potentially avoidable by modifying common risk factors such as diet and physical activity, smoking and alcohol intake.
In the ACT, our government-guided actions which address the key modifiable risk factors causing the highest burden of disease are set out in the Healthy Canberra: ACT Preventive Health Plan 2020-2025. The Healthy Canberra plan aims to support all Canberrans to be healthy and active at every stage of life. The plan sets a framework for coordinated, government-led action and a platform for broader community engagement with these priority areas to help prevent chronic disease, such as cardiovascular diseases. This starts with maintaining a healthy lifestyle to set up long-lasting good health.
As part of keeping Canberrans healthy and well in the community, the ACT government continues to implement nation-leading reforms on the risk factors for cardiovascular disease. We are seeing success, with the lowest rates of smoking in the country, lower rates of overweight or obesity, and lower alcohol consumption and sugar-sweetened drink consumption than national averages. We have above average physical activity rates and a continued focus on nation-leading harm reduction across alcohol and other drug policy.
There are a number of factors where research shows that cardiovascular diseases present higher risks for women. The general perception of heart disease, as others have talked about, is that it is a male disease. While men have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease than women, women are more likely to experience suboptimal treatment. Many of the symptoms that women experience may not be recognised as heart disease—Dr Paterson gave some good examples of that—which then increases the likelihood of a misdiagnosis.
Heart disease risk also changes throughout life. For example, what happens in pregnancy influences a woman’s risk of heart disease for the rest of her life. High blood pressure and pregnancy-related pre-eclampsia and hypertension are further risk factors. Heart disease can occur at any stage of life, but the risk increases significantly around menopause. After menopause, cardiovascular risk increases until the risk is, in fact, the same as men’s.
Research shows that women are much less likely to undergo treatment for heart attack or angina in hospital compared to men. Women experiencing heart attacks have significant delays in presenting to a hospital for treatment and receiving life-saving
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