PROFESSOR Sabina Knight, director of the Mount Isa Centre for Rural and Remote Health is on the board of the Rural Health Education Foundation which has just launched a television health channel to close the health gap between urban and rural Australia.
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Professor Knight was in Canberra yesterday, joining three federal ministers, Tanya Plibersek, Stephen Conroy and Warren Snowdon, for the launch of the Rural Health Channel.
The channel provides regular and reliable health education and information to areas sorely lacking in medical facilities.
The overall mortality rate was 12 per cent higher in country towns and surrounding areas than in the metropolitan areas, and one-fifth of GPs cater to one-third of the Australian population, including almost two thirds of Indigenous people.
Health Minister Tanya Plibersek said improving health care services for rural, regional and remote Australia was an important priority for the Gillard Government.
"Improving access to information on healthy lifestyles and reducing risks factors will make a significant difference in local communities.
"The Rural Health Education Foundation is making a real contribution to closing the gap between rural and urban Australia," she said.
Over the last 20 years the Rural Health Education Foundation has provided free distance learning education programs to more than 50,000 health professionals.
Until now, this service was only available to health professionals in their clinics or workplaces, and only for two hours per fortnight, and the Foundation had no way to reach members of the wider community.
The Rural Health Channel is being broadcast via satellite on the new Viewer Access Satellite Television (VAST) platform.
VAST services provided digital TV to people who could not receive terrestrial digital television and currently reached 75,000 households.
Government estimates expected this number to grow to 250,000 by the end of next year.
The Rural Health Channel was broadcasting from 1.30 to 3.30pm and 7.30 to 9.30pm on weekdays, and 4.30 to 6pm on Sundays.
The channel, which began broadcasting on May 21, was serving as a conduit for government and not-for-profit health initiatives.
Already Palliative Care Australia, Lifeline and the Heart Foundation were among the organisations that have used the channel to spread their health messages.
