HNE Health Helping to Close the Gap

24 March 2011

Tomorrow is National Close the Gap Day and is a way for all Australians to join together and remind our community leaders of their commitments to close the life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians within a generation.

Hunter New England Health is supporting National Close the Gap Day by hosting several events across the region, including a special morning tea event tomorrow, Thursday 24 March.

The event will be held at HNE Health’s Wallsend Campus with the feature being an activity where staff will use their bodies to spell out the words "Close the Gap" on the lawn in front of the Booth Building at 11:20am.

HNE Health’s Director of Aboriginal Health, Tony Martin said National Close the Gap Day highlights the importance of Aboriginal health equality.

"It’s also about demonstrating our collective desire for governments to work with Aboriginal communities to close the health gap," he said.

"This year’s Close the Gap theme is focusing on the need to build the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workforce, which Hunter New England Local Health Network is fully supportive of."

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can expect to live substantially shorter lives than other Australians – up to 20 years less in some cases.

Babies born to Aboriginal mothers die at twice the rate of other Australian babies, and they experience higher rates of preventable illness such as heart disease, kidney disease and diabetes.

"Whilst it is important that we have first-rate primary healthcare services, as we do, it is also important that we understand that the best way to ensure the long-term health outcomes for Aboriginal people is to prevent them from getting chronic diseases in the first place," Mr Martin said.

"Prevention is very much at the forefront of what we are about and we will continue do this in partnership with Aboriginal people. HNE Health is working closely with Aboriginal communities and we encourage people to consider the Aboriginal population when undertaking planning."

Contact: Janelle Kelly

Phone: 4939 2602