JSM - Edition Two

I ndigenous C hildren across A ustralia F ace I nequalities in R egard to H ealth C are Imagine what it would be like living in remote, rural Australia with limited access to health care. I am sure all of us take high quality, easily accessible health services for granted. I had a toothache recently and the next day was in the dentist chair; this is not a reality for many young Indigenous Australians. Despite Indigenous children living in the same country with the same rights under law, there continues to be huge differences between health of those in urban and rural communities. All across Australia, many people take their rights for granted, often without knowing what they are. Children’s rights are displayed in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child. This was created for everyone: refugees, those with disabilities, and those from rich or poor countries. A large proportion of Indigenous children struggle to exercise these rights; for example the right to a nutritious diet, good quality health care, shelter, and a free education. Some of the contributing factors to these issues are they may live in poverty, some Indigenous parents may not have been educated on healthy living, the disbelief of western medicines and medical practices may be harder to access, mostly for geographical reasons. The Australian Government has provided many programs to assist Indigenous Australians with health issues, and it is important to take advantage of these initiatives. Despite these improvements, however, there are still many barriers which prevent Indigenous children from having the quality health care to which they are entitled. The inequalities faced by Indigenous children are clearly shown by the health statistics comparing them with the rest of the population. Percentage of deaths

continued over page...

JSM Edition Two

Page 49