Shane Warne Legacy Health Check expands

Shane Warne Legacy, Latrobe Health Services and SiSU Health have announced their plan to expand the Shane Warne Legacy Health Check program nationally for another two years.

Latrobe Health Services is a not-for-profit Australian private health insurer with more than 100,000 members.

It has delivered more than 160,000 free health checks in partnership with Shane Warne Legacy and SiSU Health.

Locally, people can receive a Shane Warne Legacy Health Check at Priceline pharmacies across the Geelong region.

The goal is to deliver an additional 400,000 health chgecks across Australia over the next two years.

About 70 per cent of people who underwent a health check motivated to improve their health and more than half taking tangible action.

More than 15,000 Australians took advantage of the initiative across the 2023 Boxing Day Test at the MCG and at AFL Gather Round in South Australia this year.

The partners aim to provide 400,000 more health checks to Australians, supporting Aussies to better understand and reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease.

“The sudden death of Shane Warne in 2022 was a reminder that too many Australians are unaware of health risks,” Latrobe Health Services chief executive officer Ian Whitehead said.

“Through our partnership with Shane Warne Legacy, we are helping the community gain free access to important health checks for critical early detection and prevention.

“We are making a real difference in the lives of Australians particularly in rural and regional areas where access to healthcare can be challenging.”

Warne’s untimely death sparked an increase in public interest in heart disease and heart attacks.

Medicare reported a 62 per cent increase from March 2022 to January 2023 in heart health checks.

Despite the increase, participation rates for eligible females and males remain at less than 2 per cent of the total Australian population in the period November 2022 to October 2023.

Average participation rates for all genders remains low at 0.7 per cent for 35- to 44-year-olds, 1.3 per cent for 45- to 54-year-olds, and 2.0 per cent for 55- to 64-year-olds in the past 12 months.

“This program has already made a significant impact, genuinely changing lives by raising awareness and, in many cases, even saving lives. Countless individuals have benefited from taking just four minutes out of their day,” Shane Warne Legacy chief executive officer Helen Nolan said.

“High blood pressure often presents no symptoms, leaving many people completely unaware of any issues.

“We’ve had numerous individuals take the test purely out of convenience, believing they had no health concerns, only to find themselves in the hospital receiving life-saving procedures.

“I recommend everyone just jump on our website and put in your postcode and take the time to do this today. Sometimes, tomorrow is too late.”

For more information, head to latrobehealth.com.au/shane-warne-legacy