Alice Springs Indigenous Health Announcements Welcomed

Member for Lingiari and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia and
Indigenous Affairs Warren Snowdon said today's joint Federal and Territory
Government health announcements in Alice Springs were very welcome.

Mr Snowdon said that the initiatives on eye health and a coming statement on renal
dialysis should be regarded as a good start.

'The profile of Aboriginal health being what it is, however, it's clear that a
sustained and comprehensive effort is what we need to see thorough-going change,'
he said.

'It's a very sensible move for the Federal and NT Governments to bring the Fred
Hollows Foundation into a partnership with community-based organisations to deal
with eye health.

'The Foundation builds on the experience of the late Fred Hollows and his team in
dealing with eye problems in the bush and we're going to see that experience
make a big difference.

'But it's a 12 month program and more needs to be done to improve eye treatment
and surgery opportunities for Aboriginal people and I'm hoping to see more detail on
how this collaborative approach can be sustained and built on.

'The addition of aged care beds to the renal dialysis unit in Alice Springs is also a
welcome development.

'It's well-recognised, however, that people undergoing dialysis have a much better
quality of life when they don't have to cope with leaving family and country for
treatment as well.

'The success of community programs like the Western Desert program in Kintore
suggests that we should be looking more closely at how we can support people with
renal disease in remote communities.

'Today's announcements show that we're starting to get the right partnerships
together, but the statistics on Aboriginal health and life expectancy tell us clearly
more needs to be done.

'What we need is nothing less than a national commitment to improving all aspects
of Indigenous health,' Mr Snowdon said.

2007-04-03