More Indigenous Health Workers - Funding $452.5 Million a yr

[www.ama.com.au]

"The health of Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders remains appalling, especially compared to the rest of the Australian population, and to other Indigenous groups internationally. But good things are happening in some Australian communities."

AMA Indigenous Health Report calls for more Indigenous health workers and an extra $452.5 million a year in targeted funding

August 12, 2004


AMA President, Dr Bill Glasson, today released the AMA’s third report on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, ‘Healing Hands – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Workforce Requirements’.*

Based on an Access Economics report commissioned by the AMA, the report calls for increased targeted funding, more Indigenous health workers and more non Indigenous health workers committed to working with Indigenous people.

Dr Glasson said Indigenous health is currently underfunded by at least $452.5 million a year.

“Primary care services for Indigenous people are underfunded by $400 million a year,” Dr Glasson said.

“There is also a critical shortage of health professionals providing services to Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders. We’re looking at a shortfall of 430 doctors and 450 others.

“New training places must be conditional scholarship places that require a period of work in Aboriginal medical services.

“The cost of funding additional training places to address the total shortfall of all health professionals is $36.5 million a year, running to $167 million over six years.

“As well as increasing the workforce, it is also critical to increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders employed within the general health workforce.

“Around 2.4 per cent of the Australian population identifies as Indigenous. Representation in the medical workforce should reflect this number.

“In order to meet this long term target, we need to train an additional 928 doctors, 149 medical imaging professionals, 161 dentists, 2,570 nurses, 275 pharmacists, 119 occupational therapists, 59 optometrists and 213 physiotherapists. An additional 2,000 Aboriginal health workers are also needed.

“The AMA is calling for fully funded training places to close the workforce gap and estimates this would cost $6 million a year for the first four years, rising to $10 million annually thereafter.

“An additional $10 million a year is needed to support Indigenous students through support unit services similar to the very successful Indigenous Health and Education Unit at the University of Newcastle,” Dr Glasson said.

Dr Glasson said that we must learn from the successful local health programs working in some communities and use them in other areas of Indigenous health need.

“There are talented, dedicated people doing great things in some communities – from remote areas to the inner cities.

“With well targeted funding, these successful programs can be repeated in more communities around the country,” Dr Glasson said.

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* AMA Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Series AMA Discussion Paper 2004 – Healing Hands - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Workforce Requirements

This is the 3rd in the AMA’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Series. In 2002 the AMA’s first Indigenous Health Report card was released focussing on the underspend in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. In 2003 a second Report card was released showing there had been little change, spending was still below the level that would at least provide some degree of equity.

This, the AMA’s 2004 document, focuses on workforce requirements both in terms of those needed to provide services to Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders and the shortfall in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as health professionals.

The Discussion paper again calculates the underspend in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and identifies where the shortfall is (MBS, PBS, Dental, medical consumables) and also recommends the level of investment in primary care infrastructure that would be needed to support the shortfall in workforce.

The Discussion paper calls on the Government to create a number of new training places for health professionals that have conditional scholarships requiring the health professional to work in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health for a specified period after qualification.

The Discussion paper also calls on the government to commit to achieving parity of numbers of Aboriginal individuals and Torres Strait Islanders in all health professions within 10 years. To achieve this the Discussion paper suggests the number of places in each profession that need to be allocated to Aboriginal individuals and Torres Strait Islanders and the supports necessary to ensure most students complete their training successfully.

This Discussion paper is based on a report the AMA commissioned from Access Economics. The full report is attached and can be downloaded.
www.ama.com.au

We also attach a sheet of the Good News. (see below) This sheet summarizes 5 research projects that have had significant impacts on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. This is good evidence that with the necessary investment Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health will improve over quite a short time frame.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) monitors Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.

The health of Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders remains appalling, especially compared to the rest of the Australian population, and to other Indigenous groups internationally.

But good things are happening in some Australian communities.

Reproducing these successful programs in other communities needs
money and people with the necessary skills. Our health is influenced by what we eat, how we live and exercise, our access to work, our social support networks, our ability to deal with crisis in our lives, and our access to health services and other infrastructure.

No single intervention can solve the crisis in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. It is clear that changes are needed if Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are to get access to high quality, integrated primary health care services.

This Discussion Paper on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health focuses on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce as a key component in the provision of health services. The AMA commissioned Access Economics to produce a report, upon which this short Discussion Paper is based.

The full paper is available on the AMA’s website: www.ama.com.au

The Discussion Paper provides an estimate of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce shortfall and the recurrent funds needed to train, employ and support the shortfall in house professionals.
Additionally, we suggest the number of dedicated, fully funded, training places that need to be provided over the next 10 years to Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders. Comparable countries: USA, Canada and New Zealand have higher numbers of Indigenous health professionals.

Though disparities remain in these countries, they have been able to make much larger improvements in health for their Indigenous populations than has occurred in Australia. Increasing the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professionals to a level comparable to these countries is likely to result in better health outcomes for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population.

The AMA believes that Australia should make a commitment to achieving this parity of numbers of health professionals and calls upon the government to identify and fully fund these places, including the support units that are essential to ensure that most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students make it through to qualification.

I have also included some good news stories – examples of the very significant improvements in morbidity, mortality and indicators of future health problems. Developing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce will be an important key to improving Aboriginal and Torres Islander Health.

Dr. William Glasson
Australian Medical Association Federal President

DETAILS
http://www.turtleisland.org/healing/ausabhlth.pdf