Ms ANDERSON - 2006-08-30
Aboriginal people continue to bear the largest burden of ill health in the Northern Territory. Recently there has been encouraging news of improvements in health statistics for Aboriginal Territorians. Can you outline these positive changes for the Assembly?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the member for Macdonnell is quite correct. There is a lot of hard work to get good news back in the area of Aboriginal health. We have had a very strong commitment through our health budget and the initiatives we have put out. In fact, a 64% increase in the health budget since the Labor government came to power. We have accentuated the need for generational change and the need for a very strong focus on child and maternal health. I believe we are seeing the first signs that this work is starting to have an impact.
Some of the recent health indicators that have come out show that there is an impact on the outcomes. Life expectancy for Aboriginal women during the five year period from 1996 to 2000 was 65 years. The latest information, based on the three year period 2001-03, has gone from 65 years up to 67.9 years, an increase of nearly three years in life expectancy for indigenous women.
With Aboriginal male health there is still much work to do. It is a challenge for us. It has remained at 59.4 years. No change over the same period. We have work to do on men’s health and men are increasingly coming to us to engage us on that particular challenge.
The same publication shows the indigenous infant mortality rate has fallen by 36%, from 25 per 1000 births at the end of the 1990s to 16 per 1000 births for 2001-03. These are dramatic changes and show the error of those who think that nothing will ever change in Aboriginal health except for the worst. These changes can be traced to improved child and maternal health services, as well as better resourcing of our health system overhaul, particularly primary health care.
There is also evidence, recently published in the Medical Journal of Australia, of long-term improvements in chronic disease rates. Aboriginal communities have made a significant contribution to these achievements through their own actions and their own health services. The Commonwealth government has played its role in improving resourcing of primary health care. I urge them to take note of these improvements and continue to work with us and the Aboriginal community to make further improvements.
The way forward is to ensure that we get the balance right between primary health care and hospital services. They are both vital parts of our health care delivery, but we cannot let one overwhelm the other. I congratulate all of our health professionals who have achieved some of these early breakthroughs. Let us hope we can keep these trends going.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the member for Macdonnell is quite correct. There is a lot of hard work to get good news back in the area of Aboriginal health. We have had a very strong commitment through our health budget and the initiatives we have put out. In fact, a 64% increase in the health budget since the Labor government came to power. We have accentuated the need for generational change and the need for a very strong focus on child and maternal health. I believe we are seeing the first signs that this work is starting to have an impact.
Some of the recent health indicators that have come out show that there is an impact on the outcomes. Life expectancy for Aboriginal women during the five year period from 1996 to 2000 was 65 years. The latest information, based on the three year period 2001-03, has gone from 65 years up to 67.9 years, an increase of nearly three years in life expectancy for indigenous women.
With Aboriginal male health there is still much work to do. It is a challenge for us. It has remained at 59.4 years. No change over the same period. We have work to do on men’s health and men are increasingly coming to us to engage us on that particular challenge.
The same publication shows the indigenous infant mortality rate has fallen by 36%, from 25 per 1000 births at the end of the 1990s to 16 per 1000 births for 2001-03. These are dramatic changes and show the error of those who think that nothing will ever change in Aboriginal health except for the worst. These changes can be traced to improved child and maternal health services, as well as better resourcing of our health system overhaul, particularly primary health care.
There is also evidence, recently published in the Medical Journal of Australia, of long-term improvements in chronic disease rates. Aboriginal communities have made a significant contribution to these achievements through their own actions and their own health services. The Commonwealth government has played its role in improving resourcing of primary health care. I urge them to take note of these improvements and continue to work with us and the Aboriginal community to make further improvements.
The way forward is to ensure that we get the balance right between primary health care and hospital services. They are both vital parts of our health care delivery, but we cannot let one overwhelm the other. I congratulate all of our health professionals who have achieved some of these early breakthroughs. Let us hope we can keep these trends going.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016