Still closing the gap
September 8, 2014
WHILE improvements in
Indigenous life expectancy have
been made, there is still a 10
year gap, a new report from the
Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare (AIHW) said.
The latest estimated life
expectancy at birth for Indigenous
males was 69.1 years and 73.7
years for females, 10.6 and 9.5
years lower than non-Indigenous
males and females respectively.
The most significant contributing
factor was chronic disease,
with four groups of conditions
accounting for more than two
thirds of the gap, the report found.
Mortality rates dropped by 9%
between 2001 and 2012.
Assistant Minister for Health
Fiona Nash said a significant
journey remained to close the gap.
Indigenous Allied Health Australia
chair and pharmacist Faye
McMillan said pharmacists could do
a number of things to help ‘close
the gap’, including being aware
of the way they asked questions
of people who had ‘CTG’ on their
script; a ‘CTG’ number was an
internal pharmacy process which
a client would not be aware of,
so pharmacists needed to work
with GPs and other healthcare
disciplines to ensure the client
did not feel like they had done
something wrong for not knowing
the number and did not feel their
privacy was breached by bystanders
knowing their situation.
Pharmacists could make a real
difference by maintaining contact
with the health system, providing
positive health messages and
helping a client be more informed
about health, to aid adherence.
It was important to have culturally
responsive pharmacies where
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
culture was acknowledged as part
of the community, she said.
CLICK HERE to read the report.
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