WHO Report: Can there be any worse indictment?

The health and well-being of Australia's indigenous people has been a festering sore for almost time immemorial. Whilst money has over the years been thrown at seeking to resolve Aboriginal health issues, work-related issues and providing decent housing and education, the plight of the indigenous people remains a blight on Australia.

As the SMH reports this morning:

"The health of Aborigines lags almost 100 years behind other Australians and they are the sickest indigenous people of all the wealthy nations, a report by the World Health Organisation says.

The report into indigenous health worldwide found Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders had significantly worse results than non-indigenous people on every health indicator, resulting in an average life expectancy 17 years below that of white Australians and an average age of death of just 33 for Aboriginal males in some parts of NSW.

Some Aborigines still suffer from leprosy, rheumatic heart disease and tuberculosis, which were banished from the white population decades ago, says the report, compiled by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and presented to the WHO's Commission on the Social Determinants of Indigenous Health in Adelaide yesterday."

Comments

Priscilla said…

I agree this is an important issue, and it's great the SMH published this article. You can also sign the Sea of Hands online to tell politicians how you feel about this issue.

May 01, 2007 9:57 am

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