Searching for solutions

Collaborative research is helping to shed light on how to close the gap on Indigenous health disadvantage, writes SIMON COPLAND. We hear a lot about 'closing the gap' between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health outcomes. With a 12-year difference in life expectancy between non-Indigenous and Indigenous males, and child mortality rates up to four times higher in Indigenous communities, Indigenous disadvantage is considered to be one of Australia's biggest health problems. But what we often don't hear about is the gap between Indigenous people who live in rural areas and Indigenous people who live in urban areas. Indigenous people living in urban areas have the lion's share of many conditions affecting Indigenous communities, including around 60 per cent of the burden of cardiovascular disease, diabetes cases and cancers, as well as a staggering 83 per cent of mental health issues. Despite this, only 10 per cent of research in Indigenous health focuses on urban communities. For Professor Emily Banks, a researcher at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, this means a significant lack of data to help find solutions to these health problems.