I have written quite a few times about the burden of disease, particularly chronic disease on Australia’s Indigenous population.
On Monday night on ABC1 8:30pm Australian Story has a more personalised story on Mandawuy Yunupingu and his battle with end stage renal disease.
For another personal view of Mandawuy head over to Bob Gosford’s “The Northern Myth” for a great post looking at Mandawuy’s life as Bob’s reminisces.
And be watching Australian Story on Monday night.
Here’s Mandawuy in his younger years fronting Yothu Yindi with their signature song “Treaty”
I have also written previously about his younger brother Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu
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Watched the Australian Story, Robbo. Very sad. But, as I write, I think it was quite sacrificial. Mandawuy and his wife opened, it seemed to me, their most private selves up to the Australian public. I had heard about the grog problem. I didn’t know about the renal difficulty. I found the comment that the renal problem was not brought about by alcohol – but the alcohol dependency made the renal problem difficult to manage – interesting.
A friend of mine who was medical director at Anyingingi Congress in Tennant Creek some years ago did some research on the predisposition of Aboriginal people to kidney disease. I also recall the difficulty of people having to spend a long time away from home and family in Alice. Sometimes a husband would have to give up work to go to Alice to look after a wife. We set up health institutes to look into why farmers get depression and want to top themselves. Is anyone doing likewise for Aboriginal kidney disease?
As I write Australian Story is being spoken of on Bush Telegraph. Apparently it is on ABC2 to-night and on again at 12.30pm on Saturday.
G’day Brigid,
In the end I missed Australian Story. Hope to catch it on Saturday.
So I didn’t see Mandawuy’s comments. We don’t know what previosu diseases his kidney had, what his doctors have told him. Whatever the truth you always have to work within a patient’s belief system.
The NHMRC has recently tried to sort out indigenous health research to ensure it is more organised. Hopefully we will see some benefits in the next few years.