International cricket legend Allan Border reaches out to PM and Health Minister in video message about latest Parkinson’s statistics in Australia
Australia, Thursday 11th April 2024: As World Parkinson’s Day approaches (11 April 2024), Parkinson’s Australia, the national advocacy body for people living with Parkinson’s, has announced the release of Ecosystem of Parkinson’s in Australia Report: Part 3, revealing critical insights into the incidence and prevalence of Parkinson’s across the country.
International cricketing legend, Allan Border AO, is lending his voice to highlight the impact of Parkinson’s on Australians and helping to raise awareness and lobby the federal government to fund Parkinson’s Australia’s initiatives.
Ecosystem of Parkinson’s in Australia Report: Part 3
There are over 150,000 Australians living with Parkinson’s. Based on a population of 26 million Australians, this equates to 1 in 173 people across the country. Of these figures, it is estimated that 52% are male and 48% are female.
Almost 1 in 10 Australians (13,408 people and 9% of all prevalent cases) living with Parkinson’s are under the age of 65 and considered to be of working age. Reported cases are increasing, with the research estimating one Aussie is diagnosed every 27 minutes. In 2020 alone, 12,000 people were diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
By 2050, the number of Australians living with Parkinson’s is projected to more than triple, driven by an anticipated surge in both new diagnoses and prevalence rates across the population. This translates to more than double the number of new diagnoses and a substantial rise in prevalence over the next 25 years.
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.”
“The video highlights facts and figures from a scoping study conducted by Griffith University. This study addresses some fundamental gaps in knowledge about prevalence and incidence and other factors critical for the assessment of the burden of Parkinson’s in Australia.”
