Close the Gap
Australian Government must set 25 year target
The Fred Hollows Foundation in Australia has joined other leading Australian health, human rights, aid and development organisations in calling for health equality for Indigenous people within 25 years.
The Close The Gap campaign sets out a clear plan for achieving the goal, outlining the following minimum requirements:
- Measures to ensure equal access for Indigenous people to primary health care and infrastructure
- Increased support for developing the Indigenous health workforce
- A commitment to support and nurture Indigenous community controlled health services
- A focus on improving the accessibility of mainstream health services for Indigenous peoples
- An urgent focus on early childhood development, maternal health, chronic illness and diseases
- Supporting the building blocks of good health, such as awareness and availability of nutrition, physical activity, fresh good, healthy lifestyles, adequate housing and other social determinants of health .
"There are no excuses for Australia to be the only developed country in the world where people still suffer from trachoma, where Indigenous men in areas such as the east Katherine region have an average life expectancy of 46 years, where babies are dying at a rate three times higher than babies born to non-Indigenous parents," says The Foundation in Australia CEO Brian Doolan.
> Read Gabi Hollows Speech to Parliament House, Canberra Australia
> Find out more about the national Close the Gap campaign
> Find out more about the coalition for Indigenous health equality