Health Research

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:23): Two areas of health research are foremost in our minds this week: they are asbestos-related diseases and HIV AIDS. Asbestos Awareness Month was November and it was World AIDS Day on 1 December. I understand that Adelaide was lit up in red on 1 December at venues such as the Festival Theatre and the Rundle Mall Lantern.

The Minister for Health hosted staff from South Australian Mobilisation and Empowerment for Sexual Health (SAMESH) and Shine SA early this morning, and it was great to hear SAMESH tell us about the new state body, which is up and running and working collaboratively with the Victorian AIDS Council. They are off to a great start.

A former South Australian resident, Dr Jim Hyde, was, for many years, head of the Victorian AIDS Council and although he no longer works there I acknowledge his contribution over many years in this very important area. SHine continues to do great work, building on the solid foundation of the work led by Kaisu Vartto, now retired, and I acknowledge her contribution in that area. Worryingly though, Wills Logue from SAMESH informed us that there is another spike in newly reported AIDS infections. So, there remains a need for vigilance and community education programs in this area.

Asbestos disease deaths are also on the rise, as symptoms can lay dormant for as much as 50 years, by which time it is too late for much to be done at all, or has been until recently when studies of the use of turmeric have shown Dr Sonja Klebe that there are some very interesting results to be had. The Asbestos Victims Association ceremony, held annually by the City of Salisbury in Pitman Park, was again led this year by council's Nichola Kapitza in the presence of Mayor Gillian Aldridge and former mayor and now Makin MHR Tony Zappia, who is a patron of the Asbestos Victims Association, as is our Premier Jay Weatherill.

AVA is led by Terry Miller, a wonderful man who has done great work with his group of volunteers, who are also excellent. One recently bereaved widow has begun the AVA Friendship Group. From firsthand experience, Lesley Shears has established a vital link for people travelling on this same long and painful road. Whilst asbestos diseases have been known to workers through the use of asbestos and working in the production of asbestos (through companies such as James Hardy), it is also the wives of these workers, responsible for the washing of work clothes, who are now dying.

Now we have a new wave of victims through home renovations. Do not ever be complacent. Always check before doing your work. Asbestos registers in places of work are essential, so use these whenever in doubt. Government regulations are strict for obvious reasons, but this cannot stop the terrible practice of dumping by unscrupulous people who have removed asbestos but are not willing to follow the regulations for its disposal. There is no excuse for this irresponsible behaviour.

At the ceremony each year, the number of crosses (each representing a life lost) put up by AVA volunteers has grown. Asbestos diseases are preventable but incurable at the moment. That is why the work of people such as Dr Klebe is so important. I wish her and other researchers the very best as they progress with their work to give a better quality of life to victims and eventually to save lives, the lives of people such as Jack Watkins, someone I was lucky enough to know as a local activist and lifelong unionist working in occupational health and safety, especially on all things asbestos related. He is remembered by both the AVA and the Asbestos Diseases Society of South Australia.

ADSSA holds a commemorative breakfast at the Jack Watkins park in the City of Port Adelaide Enfield every year and Mayor Gary Johanson was in attendance again this year, which was also hosted by Ian Sheppard. The event is sponsored by SA Unions and I acknowledge Joe Szakacs and his team of helpers, who were there. They should be thanked for all they do. It was a great day. We heard this year of the diagnosis of an Ingle Farm woman. Now 27, she was 25 when she learned why she was short of breath, and along with her partner, who also has health problems, they are facing a very uncertain future together in the bravest of ways. After the formalities we all released a sea of balloons, each one representing the life of someone lost.

Each of us here in this place would know someone with either HIV/AIDS or asbestos-related disease. We know the pain and grief these diseases bring to such a wide number of relatives and friends. I know that each of us in here hopes the researchers, already hard at work, soon to be and the ones to come, will make discoveries in the not too distant future to make these diseases a thing of the past.