Three NT Indigenous researchers awarded collective $7.4m for community-led health projects
More than $7m has been awarded to three Indigenous researchers for projects aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
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About $7.4 million has been awarded to three Indigenous researchers for their projects aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people.
It comes as part of a $15.6m fund awarded to Flinders University by the National Health and Medical Research Council, the main statutory authority of the federal government responsible for medical research.
The three projects are understood to be focused on delivering community-led health initiatives alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Northern Territory.
Torres Strait Islander Professor Jaquelyne Hughes, who was awarded almost $3m for her project, ‘And We Are: Determined as Indigenous Leaders to advance First Nation kidney health’, said her research would focus on developing community-led systems for kidney diseases.
“Rates of kidney failure requiring dialysis or transplantation among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians have risen progressively over the past 40 years, remaining consistently higher than rates for non-Indigenous Australians,” she said.
“the ‘And We Are’ project recognises our role as leaders in choosing to be solution-enablers. It will ensure that we can sustain and extend health improvements that were initially developed as pilot programs or conceptual models.
Associate Professor Karla Canuto, also a Torres Strait Islander woman, was awarded nearly $3m for her project, ‘Community-led Health Promotion in the Torres Strait’.
This project is aimed at reducing chronic disease risk factors.
“Throughout isolated communities in the Torres Strait, the rates of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and chronic renal failure are skyrocketing, and health restoration is an urgent priority for Maluilgal (the tribal people of the Maluilgau region – Badu, Mabuiag and Moa Islands),” Ms Canuto said.
“The sustainable community-led initiatives we implement will help restore wellbeing.”
Yawuru woman, epidemiologist and associate professor Kalinda Griffiths was awarded about $1.6m for her project, ‘Strengthening Transparent Reporting and Improving Visibility and Equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health’.
Ms Griffith’s program aims to improve the quality, usability and governance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health data in Australia to address potential inequalities.
“The Aboriginal-led program will address the challenges that continue to exist in identifying and addressing gaps in the quality and usability of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health data in Australia,” Ms Griffiths said.
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