NT the only jurisdiction on track to close the gap

THE Central Australian Aboriginal Congress and the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute have signed a memorandum of understanding, signalling their allegiance to working together to further close the gap by 2031.

Head of Aboriginal Health Program at Baker IDI Sandra Eades, Director and CEO of Baker ID

IT’S well known that infectious and chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and diabetes are major contributors to the life expectancy gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.

Indeed, cardiovascular disease rates are 30 per cent higher among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people than their non-indigenous counterparts.

Although a significant proportion of the NT population is indigenous, the Territory is the only jurisdiction currently on track to close the gap by 2031.

To spur that goal along, The Central Australian Aboriginal Congress together with Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute signed a memorandum of understanding last Friday.

This signalled a commitment for the two leaders in the field to work together on research and service delivery.

CEO of Congress, Ms Donna Ah Chee, said health and medical research had an important role to play in policies that aimed to ‘close the gap’.

“But the value of collecting, analysing and recording Aboriginal health information is only fully realised when Aboriginal people and their representative bodies are full partners in these processes. Our agreement with Baker IDI acknowledges this,” she said.

Director of Baker IDI, Garry Jennings, said community control of health service delivery and first-rate research that provided those services with an authoritative evidence base for their work were the “two clear ingredients for success in the field.”