Anthony Albanese answers Allan Border’s cry for help on Parkinson’s disease

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he will respond to Allan Border’s cry for help for the nation to do more to tackle Parkinson’s disease.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is going to “have a word” with Health Minister Mark Butler to see what more can be done for Parkinson’s disease.

It comes as cricket great Allan Border called on the Mr Albanese to “do something” more on Thursday, which is World Parkinson’s Day.

Mr Albanese said Border was a “great Australian” and signalled a potential boost to government support and a co-ordinated approach to end the neurodegenerative disease.

“Our heart goes out to him,” Mr Albanese said on Thursday.

“I will have a word with the Health Minister about what more we can do. We have contributed over $100m to research into Parkinson’s.

“There’s also a pilot program for nurses about people suffering from Parkinson’s at the moment. There’s some $6.5m being used for that pilot program. We want to wait and see what the assessment of that is.”

Cricket great Allan Border has called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to “do something” about Parkinson’s disease. Pictured with Parkinson’s Australia CEO Olivia Nassaris.

Diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disorder in 2016, the former captain of the Australian cricket team has delivered a powerful video message to the Prime Minister and federal health minister Mark Butler urging them to do more.

It comes as Parkinson’s Australia releases a new report on Thursday that reveals the alarming impact of the disorder as part of World Parkinson’s Day.

Border, 68, says Parkinson’s has robbed him of the ability and confidence to work in TV and impacted relationships with family, friends and teammates.

“It was obvious I was nervous (doing cricket commentary on TV) and some of the symptoms would come through and people would ask what’s wrong with AB?”

Parkinson’s Australia CEO Olivia Nassaris said the national advocacy group had put in a pre-budget submission to the federal government asking for funding of $2 million.

It hopes it can attract this funding annually.

She said this would support three projects that would help train health professionals, educate the community and better understand the “lived experience” of the disorder that impacts more than one million Australians.

“We call it an iceberg disease,” Ms Nassaris said. “You can see the tip of the iceberg above which are those things that people think are physical symptoms, but underneath there’s a whole lot of symptoms that people don’t know about.

“I think people need to know about them and how people managed them day-to-day so people can be more aware and sympathetic.

Allan Border farewelled at the MCG after playing his last first class match. Picture: David Caird

“Parkinson’s is the second most common neurological condition in the world yet it remains one of the least understood conditions.”

She said Parkinson’s Australia had commissioned the Ecosystem of Parkinson’s in Australia Report: Part 3 to better understand the impact.

The biggest surprise, Ms Nassaris said, was the warning that the numbers of Australians impacted by Parkinson’s would almost triple by 2050.

“At the moment we don’t have a cause or cure so it is frightening that a disease like this is going to almost triple in numbers,” she said.

“I want the Australian Government and the health system to be prepared for what’s coming.”

Border says in the video that a lot of people know about the disease, but not the impact it has.

“I remember when I was told, my first image was of Mohammed Ali lighting the Olympic torch. I just thought people with it suffered with a tremor,” he said.

Border wants people to know that Parkinson’s doesn’t discriminate and remind them that almost 14,000 young Australians with the disorder are of working age.

“There’s a lot to this disease, we just need a little bit of help,” he said.

In response to Border’s appeal, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is going to “have a word” with Health Minister Mark Butler to see what more can be done for Parkinson’s disease.

Mr Albanese said Border was a “great Australian” and signalled a potential boost to government support and a co-ordinated approach to end the neurodegenerative disease.

“Our heart goes out to him,” Mr Albanese said on Thursday.

“I will have a word with the Health Minister about what more we can do. We have contributed over $100m to research into Parkinson’s.

“There’s also a pilot program for nurses about people suffering from Parkinson’s at the moment. There’s some $6.5m being used for that pilot program. We want to wait and see what the assessment of that is.”

At a glance

• More than 150,000 Australians are living with Parkinson’s

• 19,500 new cases every year

• One Australian is diagnosed every 27 minutes

• It costs the economy $10 billion a year

Originally published as Anthony Albanese answers Allan Border’s cry for help on Parkinson’s disease