Inverell Hospital to host a ‘Close the Gap' event

Date 23 March 2011

National Close the Gap Day (NCTGD) 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.

Inverell Hospital is supporting National Close the Gap Day by hosting a special luncheon event on Friday 25 March (one day after the official NCTGD on 24 March).

The event will be held in Inverell Hospital’s Red Room from 11am, beginning with a Welcome to Country. The luncheon will allow hospital staff to mark the day.

Aboriginal Health Coordinator Leona Quinnell, along with McIntyre Cluster General Manager Maree Bacigalupo, will perform guest speaker duties, and Aboriginal community member Esther Gardiner will share a poem reading.

Certificates will be presented to staff committed to promoting and improving Aboriginal health, as well as to Aboriginal staff employed at Inverell Health Service.

The event will conclude with a lunch and cake cutting.

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.

Aboriginal Health Coordinator Leona Quinnell said National Closing the Gap Day aims to highlight 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,” she 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.”

For more information about National Close the Gap Day, go to: http://www.oxfam.org.au/explore/indigenous-australia/close-the-gap

(HNE-2520)

Contact: Carisa Green

Phone: 0428 106 183