| SHARP representatives at the special screening with Student Support O... SHARP representatives at the special screening with Student Support Officer from the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, Ms Kay Kent, pictured in the centre foreground |
Closing the gap on Indigenous health crisis
22 Apr 2008 | Bernie Goldie
Indigenous Australians die 17 years earlier than non-Indigenous Australians and Indigenous infant mortality is three times that of non-Indigenous Australians.
With this in mind, the Student Health Alliance for Rural Populations (SHARP) today (Tuesday 22 April) conducted an event at the University of Wollongong called ‘Close the Gap’.
Staff and students were urged to attend to pledge their support to help the plight of Indigenous Australians by signing a petition for government action and watching a 10-minute DVD on the Indigenous health crisis.
Organisers said the DVD from Oxfam would help demonstrate what needs to be done to close the 17-year life expectancy gap between Indigenous and other Australians.
Those signing the petition will be urging governments to take action to achieve health equality for Indigenous Australians within 25 years by increasing annual Indigenous funding by $460 million a year to enable equal access to health services. This was a recommendation by an Access Economics report commissioned by the Australian Medical Association.
Other requests on the petition are to increase Indigenous control and participation in the delivery of health services and to address the critical social issues such as housing, education and self-determination which contribute to the Indigenous health crisis.
The main DVD screening took place from lunch time in the foyer of Building 41 (Sciences Building). Graduate School of Medicine students had their own separate screening as did students from the Shoalhaven Campus in Nowra.
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