Genuine Collaboration needed to Close the Gap
On National Close the Gap Day, AMA President, Professor Brian Owler, said that all levels of government, government agencies and departments, and health services must work together if significant enduring advances in closing the health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians are to be achieved, and for Close the Gap justice targets to be met.
“Good intentions need to be transformed into tangible actions to achieve widespread improvements in health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders,” Professor Owler said.
While there have been encouraging improvements in some areas of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing, such as reduced rates of smoking and being on track to halve the mortality rate for children by 2018, there continues to be stubbornly high levels of treatable and preventable conditions such as type 2 diabetes, rheumatic heart disease, and kidney disease.
The AMA, as a proud supporter of the Close the Gap campaign, encourages people to show their commitment to health equality by signing the pledge to close the gap.
