Migraine Strategy Workshop

Painaustralia participated in a workshop conducted by our members the Brain Foundation and Headache Australia that brought stakeholders together from multiple disciplines to set a goal of change at a national level and to reach consensus on key elements of a strategy to spark a national conversation about migraines.

Migraine is a neurological condition that is estimated to affect  4.9 million Australians. About 20% of the population suffers from migraine at some stage in their lives.

Migraine is characterised by recurrent attacks of moderate to severe headache and is a common condition associated with chronic pain. Concerningly, 71% of migraine sufferers are women and 86% are of working age. Like chronic pain, the cost of migraines to our communities is very high. The total economic cost of migraine in Australia is $35.7 billion. This consists of $14.3 billion of health system costs; $16.3 billion of productivity costs; and $5.1 billion of other costs. Importantly, migraine also imposes significant wellbeing costs.

The workshop, facilitated by Rosie Yeo, identified key goals and actions to place Migraine on the national health agenda and strengthen awareness and treatment for people living with migraines.