Thursday is 2017 Closing the Gap Day, and Australia is on track to meet just one of the seven targets set down to improve Indigenous health, education and employment outcomes.
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The North West Hospital and Health Service (NWHHS) will join Gidgee Healing, North and West Remote Health (NWRH) and the Mount Isa City Council in commemorating National Close the Gap Day.
From 9am to 1pm on the Mount Isa Civic Centre lawn area there will be an opportunity to meet with different health professionals, gather free health information, enjoy healthy food and giveaways.
NWHHS chief executive, Lisa Davies Jones said it will be a time to reflect and renew their commitment to the targets in the North West.
“It’s also a time to look at what we have achieved, and to acknowledge that there have been long-term, gradual improvements in health outcomes, particularly in chronic disease,” Ms Davies Jones said.
Ms Davies Jones said it was crucial for health services to join together to close the gap, and acknowledged the importance of Gidgee Healing, which is taking the lead role in the region for primary health care, supported by NWRH.
“The Prime Minister’s report on Closing the Gap 2017 says primary health care plays an essential role in identifying and managing care for people with chronic disease, and that is certainly the case in the Lower Gulf,” Ms Davies Jones said.
Mayor of Mount Isa, Cr Joyce McCulloch, said that with the 10th Anniversary of Closing the Gap coming up next year, it was important to keep striving to meet the targets.
“I am thrilled that the target to halve the gap in Year 12 attainment by 2020 is on track, and that the greatest increases in Year 12 attainment are in outer regional areas and very remote areas,” Cr McCulloch said.
Gidgee Healings’ chief executive officer, Dallas Leon said although the child mortality gap had hit a blip in 2015, with four deaths outside the range of the target, over the longer term the gap had narrowed.
“We have had some wins in terms of improvements in the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers not smoking during pregnancy, and a lower proportion of babies born with lower birth rate,” Mr Leon said.
“We are seeing improvements, but we want them to happen faster,” Mr Leon said.
Speaking on their commitment to supporting and working alongside regional, rural and remote service providers to achieve national health equality for all Australians, NWRH Acting Chief Executive Officer John Cain added, “We (NWRH) welcome the opportunity to work collaboratively and provide multidisciplinary services that help encourage improvements and bring about localised solutions for Indigenous health equality.
“The National Close the Gap Day and engagement activities, such as those to be hosted at Mount Isa’s Civic Centre on Thursday are a prime example of a collaborative approach to bringing people together, to share information and to take meaningful action in support of achieving health equality,” Mr Cain said.
