How historical issues have impacted on health in aboriginals?

Answer 1

1.Pre-contact Aboriginal health was determined by the surrounding environment and the existence of a complex social support network. Their intimate knowledge of the ecology enabled them to harvest and hunt the high protein, high fibre, high complex carbohydrate and low fat 'bush tucker' diet we all now aspire to in the western world. (2) 2.Being semi-nomadic, their lifestyle was active and the well developed kinship system ensured their psychological integrity and family support. According to similar palaeolithic cultures, 40-60% of deaths occurred in children < 5 years of age, which related to low adult morbidity rates in association with isolation from the western culture. 3.With the advent of European colonisation, which resulted in a dramatic change of environment as its ecology was displaced by stock farming, nomadic groups gradually adopted a more sedentary lifestyle, often settling on the outskirts of European settlements in order to have the desirable products distributed by the Europeans. Of the more undesirable products distributed were a variety of infectious diseases such as smallpox, measles, whooping cough, influenza, typhoid, tuberculosis, leprosy and of course, STDs, which had a devastating effect on the non-immune population. 4.Violent conflicts resulting in about 20,000 deaths in the SE states alone by the 1920s, and the forced assimilation and child displacement programs of the Aboriginal Protection Council between 1909 and 1969, predictably contributed to the cultural and social disintegration of Aboriginal communities. "With the loss of their land and its heritage and dependency on social security benefits based on a model which is inappropriate to their culture had a disastrous effect on family and social life". (3)

Efforts to target public health issues of the combination and association of Infectious Diseases with nutritional and environmental factors, eg. immunisation programs, provision of water and housing and rural access schemes in the 1960s-1980s, have had an effect with lower infant mortality and death rates overall, but when compared with non-indigenous Australians, the long-term disadvantages for this 1.6% of the population is obvious (1.1% in NSW but 1.8% in the Northern Rivers area).

Significant health problems still exist as will be shown, and public health targets are yet to influence the Koori community where poor self-esteem, lack of education, poor employment opportunities, associated drug, alcohol and violence issues and lack of access to health services, both in physical distance and cultural insensitivity, prevent any further improvement in health statistics. 5.Tobacco smoking has been identified as a major contributor to the high morbidity and mortality rates of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. After years of inattention, smoking cessation projects designed for Indigenous Australians are beginning to emerge. Dealing successfully with smoking cessation would be enhanced by an understanding of the long-standing historical, social and cultural antecedents to present-day usage of tobacco. This paper provides a brief account of the historical precursors to present-day patterns of tobacco use among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Historical records and mission documents, together with ethnographic accounts, suggest that Indigenous tobacco use today demonstrates strong continuity with past patterns and styles of use. These sources also reveal that Europeans deliberately exploited Aboriginal addiction to nicotine. 6. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are over represented in child protection cases and are much more likely to be removed from their families than other Australian children. The Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care has produced this handbook to assist families and communities to prevent family violence, child abuse and neglect, and to respond effectively where violence, abuse and neglect may have occurred. The underlying systemic causes of child abuse and neglect need to be dealt with, as opposed to simply removing children where they are at risk or have been the victims of abuse or neglect. This publication is divided into the following sections: family violence; child abuse and neglect; child sexual assault; reporting child protection matters; and a directory of services and resource information. 7. Alcohol-related strokes and suicide are claiming the lives of Aboriginal men and women in their 20s, according to a report due today from the National Drug and Research Institute which highlights the high toll of alcohol abuse on WA remote communities. The national alcohol indicators project report estimates that 1145 Aboriginals died from alcohol-caused injuries or disease between 2000 and 2004 and for the first time, compared death rates between reginol areas and states 8. Traditional diets were rich in nutrients and low in fat. Modern urban diets tend to be high in fat and sugar, but low in nutrition. High fat, low fibre diets have been linked to a number of disorders including obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. 9. The Infant Mortality Rate among indigenous people is three times higher than the national average, or 15.2 deaths per 1,000 births compared to five per 1,000. Other major health concerns include: * Newborns are more likely to be underweight. * Around nine out of 10 children aged five years and under are constantly exposed to cigarette smoke in the home. * Middle ear infections are common, which contributes to hearing problems and can cause speech or schooling difficulties 10. Petrol sniffing is a serious problem that has claimed over 100 Indigenous lives from 1981 to 2003 across Australia [8]. It is very common in Aboriginal communities across the Northern Territory and Western Australia and not restricted to Aboriginal youth. The practice was first observed in 1951, and is believed to have been introduced by US servicemen stationed in the nation's Top End during World War II.