Cash vital to fix health epidemic in remote NT communities

THE scandalously high rates of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in Top End Aboriginal communities should be a matter of national shame

Dr. Bo Reményi

THE scandalously high rates of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in Top End Aboriginal communities should be a matter of national shame.

The reasons for the epidemic are simple. Overcrowding, a lack of access to basic hygiene requirements like hot showers and a lack of health care are well-established causal factors for the deadly illness.

The solution, too, is just as simple — money. It’s finding it and the political will to direct it where it’s needed that seems to be the only sticking point.

In May, leading paediatric cardiologist Bo Remenyi told the NT News rates of RHD in remote communities were “increasing steadily” and “there should be an urgency to address workforce issues in remote communities”.

“Until we address our primary health care services we’re not going to see a reduction in rheumatic fever,” she said.

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Since then, West Arnhem Mayor Matthew Ryan says a further 25 cases of RHD have been diagnosed in Maningrida alone and “God knows how many” out on the homelands.

Only God knows because the government funding Mala’la Health Service Aboriginal Corporation receives to service those communities does not stretch far enough to employ dedicated workers to visit them regularly.

Access to adequate housing, basic hygiene and health care are fundamental human rights all Australians deserve, regardless of where they live.

It’s true those things cost money, but unless it’s found somewhere — whether via the Territory or federally — the people of Arnhem Land will remain second-class citizens.