To Improve Indigenous Health, We Must Improve Indigenous Housing

In order to see improvements in Indigenous health, we must improve Indigenous housing and that can only be done with Indigenous involvement and leadership.

By Laureate Professor Hugh Taylor AC, Emma Stanford and Mitchell D Anjou, University of Melbourne

The recommendation of the recent Senate report to re-establish the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing is to be applauded.

More importantly, it should be implemented as a matter of urgency.

As an ophthalmologist, I have long worked on trachoma, the blinding eye disease spread repeatedly between young children which causes scarring in the eyes, leading to blindness in adults.

Trachoma, sometimes called “Sandy Blight”, disappeared from mainstream Australia more than a century ago. But actually, Australia remains the only developed country to still have trachoma, along with some 44 low-income countries.

Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Gambia to be the latest country to eliminate trachoma. Australia had made a declaration in 2009 to eliminate trachoma by 2020 – a target the country missed.

Read the full PURSUIT article here

Most problems – like leaky taps or blocked drains – only need a handyman to fix them. Picture: AAP