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Time to Accelerate Coalition's Aboriginal Health Agenda

The Federal Government needs to build on its achievements in indigenous health and accelerate the pace of change if we are to make a real difference to health care outcomes, the Federal President of the Australian Medical Association, Dr David Brand, said today.

"The latest report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirms the need for further action," Dr Brand said.

"The report found that, among those who died, 53% of indigenous males and 41% of indigenous females were less than 50 years old.

"This contrasts with 13% of all males deaths and 7% of all females deaths occurring in those aged 50 or less.

"Death rates were higher for indigenous people than for the total Australian population in every age group, but the largest differences were among people aged 35-54 years with rates six to seven times higher for indigenous people.

"The Federal Government has done much to address issues confronting indigenous health. But we still have a long way to go.

"We are encouraging the Federal Government to move to a needs based funding formula for indigenous health.

"We know what the problems are and we know how to address them. We also know that countries like Canada, the United States and New Zealand have made big improvements in the health status of indigenous people in the space of a few short decades.

"We hope that further measures will be taken in the May Budget to accelerate the pace of change," Dr Brand said.

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