Tuesday, April 2, 2024

Heart Foundation Submits 2024-25 Federal Budget for Lifesaving, Evidence-Based, Targeted National Screening Programs

The time has come for Australia’s first targeted heart disease screening program to be implemented.

The evidence is: Australia is at record levels. heart health checknew cardiovascular risk calculators are rapidly gaining traction among general practitioners, and there is evidence that structured, targeted screening programs can help facilitate life-saving heart health checks.

Natalie Lafour, Heart Foundation Healthcare Program Manager, said nevertheless: coronary heart disease As it is the leading cause of death in Australia, individuals are now required to voluntarily submit to their GP for preventive testing.

“However, data shows that the rollout of preventive heart disease screening in general practice could prevent more than 67,000 heart attacks, strokes and heart-related deaths over five years.” said Rahul.

“The Heart Foundation is now calling on the Australian Government to begin designing and funding such a program at a cost of $3.3 million.”

The Australian Government is increasing the number of deaths in Australia’s leading cause of death by temporarily extending Medicare-subsidized heart health checks, supporting new CVD risk prevention guidelines and funding Australia’s largest targeted heart disease screening trial in general practice. It shows a willingness to work on.

The final piece of the cardiovascular disease prevention puzzle is now in sight. It is Australia’s first targeted heart disease screening program, acting as an “early warning” for high-risk Australians.

Why do we need a national cardiovascular screening program?

“Heart disease claims the lives of more than 18,000 Australians each year, but most heart disease is preventable if risk factors are caught early enough,” Ms Rahul said.

Heart disease can take decades for symptoms to appear. The screening program will help identify Australians at high risk of heart attack early, before they develop irreversible disease.

Natalie Lafour, Heart Foundation

Healthcare Program Manager

Mr Raffoul said the benefits of screening programs were clear and Australia already had such programs in place for many chronic diseases, including some cancers.

“Now is the time to build a heart disease system so we can take this disease, which is tragically the leading cause of death in our country, more seriously,” she said.

This will ensure that at-risk Australians will be formally invited to have a heart health check-up from their GP practice from a certain age, giving them early access to support and management of their heart disease risk factors.

supported by evidence

Results from a recent Phase 1 study by the Heart Foundation showed promising results – a simple, targeted heart disease screening program could increase uptake of heart health checks and help at-risk Australians with heart disease. developments that may give you an early warning that you need to take action before a development occurs.

The study, conducted by the Heart Foundation in collaboration with 200 GP clinics, showed at-risk Australians were more than 14 times more likely to get tested if called back by their GP.

How much does it cost?

The Heart Foundation is advocating for a sensible approach to testing Australians most at risk. To design this program, he will need an upfront investment of $3.3 million from the Australian Government.

What do the numbers say?

GPs, nurses and GPs overwhelmingly accept the new CVD risk prevention guidelines and have access to a new calculator with the most sophisticated risk prediction algorithm ever seen in Australia. , has been used almost 700,000 times since it was introduced last July.

Promoting this tool to general practitioners has dramatically increased uptake of Medicare-subsidized heart health tests, with 613,000 tests now performed as of the latest MBS data.

In August 2023, the month after the new calculator and guidelines were released, MBS heart health exams were performed a record 19,000 times that month, marking the highest level of attendance since the Medicare item was introduced in 2019. .