The report, entitled 'The Gap Must Be Closed: Solutions to the Indigenous Health Crisis facing Australia,' highlighted that Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders died nearly 20 years younger compared to their compatriots. In key health indicators, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders infant mortality rates were more than 50 percent higher compared to the indigenous population in the USA and NZ.
Andrew Hewett, the Executive Director of Oxfam Australia, stated that this was a national scandal where even the health crisis affecting three percent of the population could not be solved.
"At what point do we stand up and start shouting? It's scandalous that in a country as wealthy as Australia we cannot solve a health crisis affecting less than three-per cent of the population,' said Hewett.
Despite the bleak news there were some positive points in the report. Dea Thiele, the
Chief Executive Officer of NACCHO, mentioned a successful project which had lead to the improvement of the birth weight of Aboriginal babies.
'Up and down Australia there is good news in Aboriginal health such as the Mums & Babies project in Townsville which has received nearly 40,000 patients since it opened in 2000, leading to the improved birth weight of Aboriginal babies,' said Thiele.
The report called for more investment, estimated in a range of $350 to $500 millions, on primary health care for Aboriginal people & Torres Strait Islanders. This year National Days of Thanksgiving has a special focus on the contribution of Indigenous people.