MEDIA RELEASE December 7, 2001 Is Health a Basic and Fundamental Right? As International Human Rights Day approaches we should think about our own Indigenous people who still do not have equity of access to the most basic and fundamental right - health. "Aboriginal people are continuing to die 20 years earlier than other Australians, and the per head expenditure by governments on health, housing, education and essential services for Aboriginal people is shamefully low compared with the level of need," said the late Puggy Hunter. Puggy Hunter was Chairperson of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation until his untimely death at the age of 50 for the reasons of ill health. He strongly advocated for accessible and equitable health services for Aboriginal people. The head of the major Aboriginal health service provider in Adelaide, Polly Sumner of Nunkuwarrin Yunti of South Australia Inc. reiterates Mr Hunter's concerns about the health and life expectancy of Aboriginal people. Ms Sumner said many factors have and still are impacting on the ability for our people to achieve a level of health and life expectancy at least equal to that of other Australians. Some of these factors include the effect of colonisation on loss of culture, spirituality and land, inequality of access to education, employment and housing, and racism. "Health to Aboriginal people does not just mean the physical well being of the individual but refers to the social, emotional and cultural well being of the whole community. "The United Nations Charter and International Covenants on Human Rights define self-determination to include people's right to their own cultural, economic, social and political institutions and ownership and control over land. What is needed, said Ms Sumner, is a commitment by all political parties to a long-term plan for Aboriginal health. Every time a new government is elected, the direction for Aboriginal health changes. We just get a new health program up and running, and it is dumped in favour of something the new government thinks will work better. We are tired of being a political football. "In the past 20 years, there have been several inquiries and reports into Aboriginal health and they have consistently made recommendations about self-determination and community development for Aboriginal people at all levels of health service delivery, and to stop passing the buck between Commonwealth and State governments. "The problems in Aboriginal health are well known and there is widespread agreement about what needs to be done. What we need now is a long-term political commitment to bring Aboriginal people's health up to the same level enjoyed by other Australians", said Ms Sumner. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/ until 11 March, 2001 and Recoznettwo is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznettwo%40green.net.au/ from that date. This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use."
