Tuberculosis

Ms PRATT (Frome) (14:13): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Have health practitioners been treating a tuberculosis outbreak and, if so, has training been provided to them? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Ms PRATT: It was reported on 8 September:

As part of the State Government's effort to fight a tuberculosis outbreak in the APY lands that has claimed one life, more than 700 people have been screened as part of a $1.9 million package, which includes tailored community engagement, and education and upskilling health practitioners who may not have seen cases of tuberculosis in their practice.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:14): This is an important question and I had the opportunity last week to visit the APY lands, along with both the Chief Executive of SA Health, Dr Robyn Lawrence, our Chief Aboriginal Health Officer and other members from the SA Health team. There were a number of key things we did while on the lands, one of which was looking at what has been happening in terms of the tuberculosis outbreak.

There has been a very significant response in terms of concerns about tuberculosis on the APY lands. There has been a $1.9 million investment from SA Health in terms of responding to this outbreak, working between our SA Public Health team, the tuberculosis team that is based out of the Central Adelaide Local Health Network, SA Pathology team and also the Nganampa health services based on the lands, to develop a response that has been community tailored to make sure that we can test as many people as possible, and get as many people as possible identified in order to address the outbreak and then to be able to treat people who have been affected by the outbreak.

The team has done incredible work, particularly focused at Pukatja where the outbreak is happening, and in working with the Nganampa team based at the clinic there has now identified 700 people who have been tested. They will be going back shortly, undertaking some more testing, but it is a very significant number of people from that local population who have been tested. The other element as well which the member asked me about, is making sure that we can provide the support to the health workers and the delivery of treatment—

Ms Pratt: Do they know what they are looking for?

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —to people being affected. As you can imagine, that is more complex when you are talking about an area like the APY lands than elsewhere, and so the work between SA Health and Nganampa health services has seen regular visits that have been led in order to provide assistance, and to provide assistance for the medications that people who have been affected by tuberculosis have had to take, to make sure that they can be appropriately treated. Speaking with the team at Nganampa, that has involved visiting them many times a day to make sure that those medications are being taken appropriately, because if they are not then they will not work effectively and then the second line treatments that are available to affect that condition are nowhere near as good if that first line treatment—

Ms Pratt: That is about treatment not training. Do they know what they are looking for?

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Frome is called to order. The minister has the call.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —is nowhere as good if that first line treatment is delivered effectively. So that is very important work, and certainly the feedback that we got from up on the lands was very supportive in terms of that work that has happened between SA Health and Nganampa health services. There has always been a small trickle of cases that have been identified on the lands over the past 40 years, but this is a much higher number than we have seen previously.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call.

Ms Pratt interjecting:

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: Why don't you listen?

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister, please be seated. Speakers have upheld the right of ministers, or other members, to answer a question as they see fit, provided the answer conforms to standing orders or any other practice of the house. There is no point of order before me—

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order—in relation to standing order, for example, 98, and therefore the minister has the call. Minister.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: Thank you. So, in summary, we have provided the funding, we have provided the staff, we have worked with the local health service and we are doing the testing. A very significant number of people have been tested—I think many more than our expectation were going to be able to be tested—and we are providing the support to make sure the people can get the treatment that they need to get better through this outbreak. This has been a really cohesive, coordinated response across SA Health and Nganampa health services and I want to thank each and every one of those healthcare workers who have been involved in this very serious outbreak.