Australia’s Health 2006, a report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, focuses on the improvements in health for many - and also highlights some glaring inequalities between the health of Aboriginal Australians and non-indigenous population.
- One in two Aboriginal Australians smoke - twice the national average.
- They have a diabetes prevalence rate three times that of the population as a whole.
- 70% will die before the age of 65, compared to just 20% of the rest of the population (life expectancy is 17 years lower than the average).
However, in launching the report, the health minister, Tony Abbot, has sparked controversy by calling for a new ‘paternalism’ by employing administrators to encourage healthier living and address the dysfunction in the societies.
The Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson has warned of the danger of such a top-down approach, cautioning that ‘You can't just have unilateral government action ... you've actually got to work in partnership with the sober people, with the good people, to build ownership of those social order measures.’
The report can be downloaded here >>.
Source: The Australian, 22 June 2006.