Closing the Indigenous health gap - time to get it right
AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that Close the Gap Day is a timely reminder for the Government to get active in developing a comprehensive national plan to achieve Indigenous health equality within a generation.
Close the Gap Day is this year highlighting the urgent need for the Government’s plan to close the Indigenous health gap in genuine partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Dr Pesce said the AMA supports the Close the Gap Day events being held around Australia to encourage the Government to “Get it Right” on closing the gap.
“The $1.6 billion commitment to Indigenous health programs that governments have already made through the Council of Australian Governments is a great beginning, but more needs to be done,” Dr Pesce said.
“The Prime Minister made a public commitment to work to achieve equality in health status and life expectancy for Indigenous people by 2030, and he agreed to develop a plan to make this goal a reality.
“A long-term comprehensive national plan must be developed and implemented in genuine partnership with Indigenous people and their representative organisations, and be based on agreed targets and benchmarks for progress.
“The AMA urges the Government to develop its Indigenous health plan soon – closing the gap must be a major objective of health reform in this country,” Dr Pesce said.
A coalition of over 40 Indigenous and non-Indigenous health organisations has already started work on developing a long-term plan to close the gap in their detailed report, Close the Gap: National Indigenous Health Equality Targets.
25 March 2010
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