Minister for Health, Tanya Plibersek, recently announced $2 million for a national stroke campaign that shows people how to recognize signs of stroke and stresses the importance of responding to them fast.
“Stroke is the second most common cause of death in Australia,
“Around 60 per cent of people who’ve had a stroke don’t make it to hospital in time for treatment that can support better recovery and save lives.” Ms. Plibersek said.
The Minister explained that the national stroke campaign will raise awareness of the ‘FAST’ test to check for stroke.

FAST stands for:
Face – has their mouth drooped?
Arms – can they lift both?
Speech – is it slurred, can they understand you?
Time – is critical. If you see any of these signs, ring 000 straight away.

Ms. Plibersek pointed out that stroke is the second most common cause of death in Australia and that there are around 375,000 stroke survivors in Australia.