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G4EBT > HEALTH 17.06.07 15:59l 151 Lines 5711 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 075658G4EBT
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Subj: RE: Aboriginal Health (VK2TV)
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Sent: 070617/1320Z @:GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU #:34764 [Blackpool] FBB-7.03a $:075658G4
From: G4EBT@GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU
To : HEALTH@WW
Ray, VK2TV wrote:-
> I live in a town with one of the largest aboriginal populations in
> Australia and I associate with some members of that indigenous
> community both at and through my involvement with the local community
> radio station. That puts me in a slightly better position than most
> Australians to make comment of aboriginal problems ... as seen through
> my eyes.
Interesting to read a perspective from someone with current
first-hand experience Ray.
> There are most certainly major health issues amongst aboriginal people,
True.
The AMA report showed life expectancy for better-off Australians is 79 yrs
for men and 84.5 yrs for women. For Indigenous people it's just 59.4 years
for men and 64.8 yrs for women - same as the Australian average back in
1920.
I thought the excellent upbeat report by the Australian Medical
Association (AMA) was well worth a mention. It wasn't about blame
apportionment but developing long-term strategies that work, rather than
throwing money at quick fixes that fail.
It made recommendations to address barriers to access to
health-care services such as:
Remoteness due to scattered inaccessible communities,
Lack of health workers in those communities,
Lack of transport and;
Lack of equipment and facilities.
The report was the distillation of papers from 24 professionals and
academics with the weight of all 27,000 members of the AMA behind it -
doctors (salaried and in private practice), GPs, specialists, teachers,
researchers, and doctors in training.
> For years the government has been pouring money into the indigenous
> population to solve problems but this course of action will NEVER work.
That was the conclusion of the AMA, reflected in title of the report:
"Institutionalised Inequality - Not Just a Matter of Money".
"Equal Health Access a Priority For Aboriginal Australians"
I'm puzzled that to highlight such a worthwhile initiative by heath-care
professionals across Australia could be interpreted by Bob as "very
discriminatory, digging out all the dirt you can about my country".
Quite the reverse in my view - I saw it as a good news story.
Australia is a fine country - the present day problems it's grappling with
are a legacy created by the British. If any blame attaches to anyone, it's
mostly the British.
Australia didn't become a Commonwealth Federation until 1901, long before
most of the parents of VKs on here even lived there. The *Brits* grabbed
the land, took the alcohol and diseases and caused mayhem, just as they
did elsewhere around the globe.
> Every low income group has its share of problems but being in a low
> income group is not so easily solved for aboriginal people.
True.
They aren't solved simply by dishing out "sit-down" money to perpetuate a
life of welfare dependency and fecklessness - only by imginative
intiatives such as that of the AMA. Health, education, parental support
and guidance are key issues.
The problems of lifting an underclass out of poverty aren't unique to Oz
or to Aborigines - it exists in every developed country, not least the UK.
Hull is at the bottom of the UK league table for educational attainment
and towards the top of the list for obesity, teenage pregnancies and STDs.
Generations of illiterate, innumerate families who've never worked and
never will, view age 16 not as the school leaving age but the retirement
age.
The welfare system is supposed to be a safety net to catch people when
they fall - not a spiders' web to ensnare them for a life of dependency.
In tghe UK, untold millions have been spent on "Sure-Start" - an excellent
government programme to give the best start in life for every child.
It brings together early education, childcare, health and family support.
But those taking advantage of it aren't those at whom it's really aimed,
but aspirational middle class families. Perversely this widens, rather
than closes, the inequality gap.
It brings to mind "you can lead a horse to water" but it's too easy to
place all the blame on an underclass that has few positive role models.
A recent report on a cohort of 15,500 English children born between 2000
and 2002 showed that by age three, children of graduate parents are ten
months ahead in vocabulary compared to those of unqualified parents. In
comprehension of sizes, shapes, colours, letters and numbers, they're a
full year ahead.
That gap will widen at every stage of their lives.
> They are accused of being lazy, untrustworthy, unreliable, drunkards,
> good for nothings, etc, etc. Some of the time some of these accusations
> are true, but only some of the time.
True. It's all too easy to demonise and to reinforce prejudice.
You'll know better than me Ray that there's a plethora of info on every
facet of this emotive intractable issue, often biased one way or the
other.
I mentioned the Australian Institute of Criminology earlier.
One of it's 5-page reports (a bit dated, but nonetheless valid), is
entitled Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice - Aboriginal
criminal Justice.
It's well written, with stats and trends for aboriginal crime in tabular
and graphical form, with narrative. I won't quote it, but the report can
retrieve it from:
http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/ti13.pdf
> For those who think the aborigines are well off because of government
> handouts, ask yourself the following question ....
> If they are so well off, would you consider swapping places with them?
> I'll bet the answer is no.
Count me out.
Best wishes
David, G4EBT @ GB7FCR
Cottingham, East Yorkshire.
Message timed: 12:13 on 2007-Jun-16
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