Page 1031 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 25 February 2009
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some of us participated in the Terry Connolly walk. I think Mr Barr made it halfway around but had other engagements he had to duck off to. But it was good to see so many people from the Canberra community, so many diverse people in terms of age, gender and so on, and it is good to see that this important issue is starting to gain recognition in our community. But certainly there is a long way to go and the simple issue is that not enough people are registered.
It is a problem when we have several thousand people in Australia—I believe the figure is 200 in the ACT—who are waiting for an organ or tissue transplant to save their lives or to significantly improve the quality of their lives. The problem is that, if you do not have enough people registered, what will occur is that, unfortunately, their time will pass without having received the transplant in sufficient time.
It is a very simple issue as to what we can do. Firstly, have the conversation with your friends and family so that they understand what you are doing and what your intent is. Then get down to Medicare and sign on. It is a very simple process; it will take four or five minutes to do; you will receive an organ donor card; and then you can actually, in a small but very significant way, make a difference.
The other issue is that of ovarian cancer and it is wonderful to see so many people wearing their—I am not quite sure what the colour is.
Mrs Dunne: Teal blue.
MR HANSON: Teal. I notice, on Mrs Dunne’s jacket, it looks like you have very well coordinated some of that. I have obviously failed and many of us have failed, not that I am much of a fashion consultant.
Mr Barr: You do not have a teal suit, Jeremy?
MR HANSON: I am sure that you do, Mr Barr.
Mr Barr: I wore it down to Mardi Gras.
MR HANSON: I look forward to seeing it in the Assembly.
Ms Gallagher: With sparkles?
MR HANSON: With sparkles. The sad fact is that it is actually a serious issue. There are 1,500 women every year diagnosed with ovarian cancer; and 850 every year will die. So it is really quite a tragic issue.
The issue also is that most women are diagnosed too late. It is a difficult affliction to have diagnosed. There are a number of warning symptoms and signs and, if you pick those up early enough, 95 per cent of those people that are picked up early will survive. But the symptoms are not as clear-cut as they are for a number of other diseases.
I will go through some of the symptoms: abdominal bloating, unexplained abdominal pelvic pain, feeling full, increased urgency to urinate or change in bowel habits.
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