Men's Health Education Rural Van

This month the Minister for Health and I embarked on a virtual tour of the Men's Health Education Rural Van [MHERV]. While we were at Teralba Bowling Club, MHERV was in Nowra on one of its two scheduled tours per year. MHERV is a mobile health unit that travels throughout rural and regional New South Wales with a registered nurse offering free health checks. MHERV seeks out men who, for whatever reason, have not seen the inside of a doctor's rooms for years. It is aiming to reach the one in four Australian men who die from preventable conditions. There are 41,000 men each year who might overlook or not know the signs of their ill health until it is too late.

We know that blokes are less likely than women to regularly see a doctor. That might be for a few reasons, like lack of time, limited access to GPs outside of cities or, more likely, a stoic, "she'll be right" attitude. MHERV is helping to address that by offering free health checks that screen for high blood pressure, sugars and cholesterol. While the program focuses on men, it is open to men and women. Roughly 22,000 people have been tested at MHERV since 2017, with about 10,000 people found to need treatment and around 650 people found to be in immediate danger of a stroke or heart attack. It is certainly not an exaggeration to say that five minutes at MHERV can save someone's life. It is also a safe space to help educate people, mainly men, about the importance of routine check-ups. That education, along with the early detection of health issues, helps alleviate pressure on the public health system by catching ailments early.

I am proud to have had a long history with MHERV, ever since the Rotary Club of Warners Bay approached me in 2017 to champion its cause and help secure State Government funding. With the help of the New South Wales Government and the generous assistance of community partners and local Rotarians, MHERV has toured New South Wales for the past eight years. I welcome the news of a $50,000 New South Wales Government grant, which will cover the cost of MHERV's nurse on its next tour. This valuable service is truly deserving of public funds. MHERV visits Lake Macquarie and its surrounds, with recent stops including Wallsend, Lake Haven and Morisset. We are deeply grateful for MHERV's services in southern Lake Macquarie, which struggles with limited GP availability and public health services. I encourage men living in Lake Macquarie and, indeed, throughout regional New South Wales to check MHERV's calendar and pop by if it comes to town. It could save their lives.

When MHERV initially reached out to me, I approached the then Minister for Health, Brad Hazzard. There was no easily available pot of money for the service, but the Minister found a way to give MHERV help in 2017. He made it clear that I was to give MHERV a message. He said, "Greg, tell them that this is it. It is a one-off. Do not be coming back next year." Guess what! I went back the next year. The data was already coming in, and the number of people they had reached out to and helped made it very difficult for the Minister to deny the further request. I am so pleased that he supported that, and I was also pleased that Minister Park visited with MHERV the other day. It was tacked on to the topping out ceremony at the John Hunter Hospital, a major event that the Minister found time for in his day. That was really appreciated. In 2017 I found an ironic and funny picture of a billboard in the United States. The billboard said, "This year thousands of men will die from stubbornness", and someone graffitied the billboard with, "No, we won't."