AMA: 'Spend more on indigenous health'
By Margaret Allum
The Australian Medical Association used Australia Day to call for more resources from this year's federal budget to improve indigenous health.
Dr Ngiare Brown, the AMA's indigenous health adviser, said improving the health and education of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is the cornerstone of reconciliation.
"Indigenous people don't get far more health dollars than the rest of the community ... [and] additional spending on indigenous health is not wasted", she said.
Brown listed statistics that revealed the dramatic differences between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people's infant mortality and death rates from circulatory disease, respiratory conditions, injury and poisoning.
Health workers "are doing some brilliant work improving health standards and services in indigenous communities, but without a dramatic increase in financial support, improved infrastructure and increased staffing levels, all that good work is put at risk", Brown said.