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Indigenous health has flatlined for 10 years

*Embargoed until 12 noon Sunday 8 December, 2002

Australia's disgrace: Despite some successes there has been little or no overall progress in improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the 10 years 1990 to 2000.

In the current issue of the Medical Journal of Australia, Dr Ian T Ring, Adjunct Professor of Public Health at the James Cook University in Brisbane and Dr Ngaire Brown, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association in Canberra, discuss the findings of the Australian Medical Association's Report Card on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health - No More Excuses.

"The report outlines the current health status of our Indigenous population and how it compares with the health of Indigenous people of other similar countries," says Dr Ian Ring co-author of the report.

"Despite significant improvements in some areas of health, Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders are still dying at a median age of 51 years. There has been no improvement in this measure in the last 10 years.

"In the same period, the median age at death for the total Australian population increased by three years, so that the gap between Indigenous Australians and the rest of the population has now increased to a staggering 26 years.

"Median age at death is much higher for the Indigenous populations of New Zealand (59 years), Canada (65 years) and the United States (63 years) and in contrast to the situation in Australia, has been progressively improving for at least the past 25 years.

"Furthermore, overall death rates for Indigenous Australians are still three times as high as for the rest of the Australian population. Diabetes death rates are eight times as high, respiratory deaths almost four times as high and circulatory conditions almost three times as high.

"These are unacceptable statistics for treatable and preventable conditions.

Dr Ring blames the appalling statistics on the apathy that surrounds the implementation of public health policy for Indigenous Australians.

"We don't need new solutions, new strategies, some magic bullet," he said.

"We need to implement strategies like the National Aboriginal Health Strategy that's been around for more than a decade, and the Primary Health Care Access Program which features needs-based funding, funds pooling and community control.

"The Report Card reinforces previous calls for a national program to build up the necessary community-controlled health services for prevention and treatment; for the Primary Health Care Access Program to be adequately funded; for a National Health Training Plan (particularly for Indigenous staff); and for a National Infrastructure Plan for clean water, sewerage and power and other basic services.

"The Commonwealth Government, through programs under its direct control, still spends less per capita on Indigenous people than it does on the rest of the Australian population: seventy-four cents on Indigenous Australians for every dollar spent on the rest of the population.

"Australia is arguably the second healthiest country in the world with a proud record in confronting difficult and complex issues such as AIDS and cancers in women. Successes with Government initiatives such as pneumonia vaccination indicate the kind of rapid and substantial gain that can be achieved. Indigenous Australians can achieve the major gains experienced by indigenous populations in other countries, and achievements that equal and exceed those gains, should be Australian's aim.

The Medical Journal of Australia is a publication of the Australian Medical Association.

CONTACT: Dr Ian T Ring 0409 578 577 07 3379 1505 (H)

Judith Tokley (AMA) 0408 824 306

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