‘Do something’: Allan Border appeals to PM to new Parkinson’s campaign
International cricketing legend, Allan Border, is calling on the Federal Government to fund Parkinson’s Australia’s research and initiatives in a new campaign aimed at highlighting the prevalence of Parkinson’s across the country.
Border is one of over 150,000 Australians living with Parkinson’s, roughly one in 173 people across the country. One Aussie is diagnosed every 27 minutes.
Olivia Nassaris, Parkinson’s Australia, CEO, says, “Parkinson’s is the second most common neurological condition in the world and impacts more than one million Aussies, yet it remains one of the least understood conditions. That’s people living with the condition plus family, friends, colleagues and team-mates.
“Our research underscores the urgent need for increased awareness, support, and research into Parkinson’s. With incidence and prevalence rates set to skyrocket in the coming years, it’s imperative that we take proactive steps to address the challenges faced by individuals living with Parkinson’s and their families.”
Border said of his own diagnosis: “A lot of people know the disease but they don’t know the impact that it has:150,000 people in Australia have the disease, it does present in different ways. “When I was told I was suffering, my first image was of Muhammad Ali and the Olympic torch – I just thought people suffered from a tremor, but there’s about 100,000 different ways of it presenting.”
Parkinson’s Australia has also refreshed its logo, and released The he Ecosystem of Parkinson’s in Australia Report: Part 3, which it calls “the first structured examination of the distribution of the incidence and prevalence of Parkinson’s across Australia and the first to make future projections about the impact of the disorder across jurisdictions and age demographics.”
The report projects by 2050, the number of Australians living with Parkinson’s will more than triple, driven by “an anticipated surge in both new diagnoses and prevalence rates across the population.”
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Nathan Jolly is the Deputy Editor of Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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