Most of us involved in Indigenous Health can quote the health statistics by heart. They have ten times the amount of renal disease, remote indigenous Australians have ten times the number per head of diabetes compared the the remote white population, hospitalised for pneumonia five times more than other Australians. Need I go on?
I will.
A review of the results of sexual health screens performed in 26 central Australian Aboriginal communities between 1994 and 1996 (with an eighty percent participation rate) showed
24–29% of 15–24 year olds were infected, as were about 10% of those aged 40–50 years
That data is now thirteen years old. Hopefully things have improved since then. So lets look at something more recent.
The Western Australian Aboriginal Sexual Health Strategy 2005-2008 reports that in Western Australia gonorrhoea notifications were 182 times more likely to be for Aboriginal youth than from non-Aboriginal youth.
One hundred and eighty two times higher.
Gonorrhoea notifications were 182 times more likely to be reported among Aboriginal youth aged 15 to 19 yrs (age-specific notification rate in 2004 = 5102 per 100,000 population) than among non-Aboriginal youth (age-specific notification rate in 2004 = 28 per 100,000 population) of the same age.
(Click on graph for better view)
What would be the public health response if this occurred in the general population in, say, Melbourne or Sydney. I bet a lot more than the resources given to Aboriginal Health.
That is really just a lead in to the latest newsletter from the Australian Sexual Health and HIV Nurses Association. The first article provides an easily digested overview of Indigenous Health.
On page four there is a terrific article of hands on work during a sexual Health screen with Ngaanyatjarra Health in the Western Desert of Western Australia.
Enjoy the read.
Download (PDF, 1.3MB)
References
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework
Western Australian Aboriginal Sexual Health Strategy 2005–2008
CARPA Reference Manual 4th Edition
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Tagged as:
Aboriginal Health,
ASHHNA,
chlamydia,
gonorrhoea,
indigenous health,
sexual health,
STD,
STI,
syphilis
- Breast screening at overload. Indigenous have lowest participation rates http://bit.ly/43CHRD
- MJA article suggests more nicotine replacement therapies should be available for indigenous people http://bit.ly/1D6LW9
- Chlamydia cases increased by 10% last year. STI rates in indigenous also higher than rest of population http://bit.ly/KDqlS
- HIV infection among Aboriginal people was attributed to injecting drug use in 22 per cent of cases over the past 5yrs. http://bit.ly/1stayc
- New 12 station renal unit under construction in Alice Springs.Boost capacity by 20% http://bit.ly/HN1Of -will border areas be given access?
- Smoking is the single biggest factor responsible for the gap between the health of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people http://bit.ly/ezHNP
- Qld Health spent $22k in accommodation for renal patient as no dialysis unit at home. Unit would cost $40k http://bit.ly/onOAz staff costs?
- Anwernekenhe National Aboriginal &TI HIV/AIDS Alliance launched. to bring down Indigenous HIV rates http://bit.ly/FRsYm
- National Indigenous Health Equality Council has first meeting with Snowdon, Minister for Indigenous Health http://bit.ly/pWubU
- Indigenous pandemic protection ‘a long way off’ for South Australia’s Aboriginal communities http://bit.ly/Z3SOO
- serious gaps in diagnosis & treatment of people at risk from heart attacks. Good news-Aboriginal people treated better! http://bit.ly/18JO96
The Indigenous News Updates are sourced from news and other articles from around the country that I have posted on Twitter. Image source: OpenClipArt.org, public domain.
If you like this post and what else you see on the blog please subscribe by RSS feed (the orange button) or by email. Visit my subscription page.
Tagged as:
aboriginal,
Aboriginal Health,
breast screening,
cardiac,
dialysis,
GP,
heart attack,
HIV,
Indigenous,
indigenous health,
influenza,
nicotine,
nicotine replacement,
pandemic,
renal,
Snowdon,
treatment
(Click on graph for better view)
