Copyright Inter Press Service 1991, all rights reserved. Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'igc:newsdesk'.
Area: Asia, eastern
Reference: Third World Dvpmnt
Title: AUSTRALIA: AN ABORIGINAL MEDICAL SUCCESS STORY
an inter press service feature
by kalinga seneviratne
sydney, jul 18 (ips) -- every tuesday morning, nutrition worker nada
shareef talks to a group of elderly aboriginal women on developing
healthy eating habits to keep heart disease and diabetes at bay,
after which she joins them for a meal and a few hours of sewing.
on fridays, it is shareef's job to make sure that two drivers
deliver fruits and vegetables to needy aboriginal families in the
inner-city sydney suburb of redfern and that the aboriginal school
close by gets a box of apples and oranges.
these activities are part of the services offered by the
aboriginal medical service (ams) in sydney, which celebrates its
20th anniversary this month.
the ams was described in the recent royal commission report into
'aboriginal deaths in custody' as ''one of the best demonstrations
in the country of the world health organisation's ideal for the
delivery of primary health care''.
''we were the first in the country to set up a community health
centre and medical service,'' says dulcie flowers, the coordinator
of the aboriginal health worker education programme at ams. ''the
state health department has now set up community health centres in
hospital grounds, following our example.''
in the last 20 years, the ams has grown from a two-room shopfront
medical clinic staffed by volunteers to a major health care complex
featuring medical and dental clinics offering comprehensive primary
and preventive health care programmes.
today, these include a nutrition, aboriginal health worker
education, home and community care, immunisation and public health
programmes. it also runs the allawah old people's hostel.
the ams whose operations extend throughout the state of new south
wales, is staffed by over 50 paid employees. all of them, except the
doctors, dentists and some registered nurses, are aboriginal or
torres strait islanders. the ams annual budget exceeds 1.5 million
dollars.
the history of the ams is symbolic of the struggle of aboriginal
people to attain self-reliance and control of their own affairs
since the historic referendum of 1967 forced the repeal of laws that
had forced aboriginal people to live on government and church-run
missions and reserves for over 100 years.
the dismantling of this official apartheid system resulted in a
mass exodus of aborigines from rural areas to the cities. the
aboriginal population of the inner city of sydney increased from
4,000 in 1966 to 35,000 by 1968. (more/ips)
australia: an (2)
this community of refugees had extensive medical problems. at the
time, cash payments demanded by doctors and overt racism in the
hospitals discouraged aborigines from seeking treatment.
thus in july 1971, the aboriginal medical service cooperative was
born. staffed initially by rostered volunteer doctors and nurses,
the ams asked for a grant of 23,000 dollars from the federal
government but was given only 10,000 dollars. this minimal financial
support was to set a pattern for at least the next 15 years.
''ams has fought long and hard to place aboriginal health on the
agenda of politicians both state and federal,'' says flowers.
''it's been an eternal battle for us to be given the funding we
consider is necessary to do the job we set out to do, even though we
are held up as a model of community control and a good example of
what aboriginal people can do, if given the resources,'' she adds.
the ams has not depended solely on government grants. over the
years, it has developed an extensive network of financial
contributors and supporters in the wider australian community.
it was this 'appeal account' that was largely responsible for
funding the establishment of community health services nationally.
between 1974 and 1980, the ams provided help in creating almost 50
new aboriginal health services around the country.
during the 1980's, the ams developed a major public health
programme with employment of five aboriginal public health workers
involved in health promotion and counselling.
the greatest success achieved by this programme was the
production in 1987 of a 10-minute video called 'spread the word', as
part of an aids educational programme. it won an international award
and was later adopted by the who for use in developing nations in
africa, asia and the pacific.
in 1984, ams started its own aboriginal health worker programme
which has trained over 51 health workers, most of whom are now
employed by aboriginal medical services around the country.
explaining the ams concept, flowers says it is in keeping with
aboriginal tradition where people have control over their own
affairs and are in a position to call upon trustworthy people to
carry out the decision of the majority.
''that's what our ancestors have been doing for centuries,''
flowers says. ''we have been able to keep a lot of that traditional
culture of ours and blend it with modern scientific knowledge.''
this, she added, is not appreciated by the white australian
community. ''many australians don't realise that aborigines are
leaders in this country in a lot of fields,'' says flowers.
(end/ips/pr/hm/ks/lm)