Indigenous child health: Are we making progress?

Abstract

We identified 244 relevant articles pertinent to indigenous health (4% of the total) with a steady increase in number since 1995. Most Australian publications in the journal (with a small Indigenous population) have focussed on conditions such as malnutrition, diarrhoeal disease, iron deficiency, rheumatic fever, acute glomerulonephritis and respiratory and ear infections, and in settings where nearly all affected children are Indigenous. In contrast, New Zealand publications (with a large Maori and Pacific Islander population) have addressed important health issues affecting all children but emphasised the over-representation of Maori and Pacific Islanders. Publications in the journal are largely descriptive studies with relatively few systematic reviews and randomised trials. Our review attempts to cover the important Indigenous health issues in our region as represented by articles published in the Journal. The studies do document definite improvements in indigenous child health over the last 50 years.

Sustained participation in annual continuous quality improvement activities improves quality of care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children

“…Prevalence levels found in this analysis were comparable to those previously published. The prevalence of growth faltering, chronic ear disease, anaemia and infected skin sores in this analysis were all comparable to those found in published data . Our sample size over 2360 children meant that our estimates are likely to be robust estimates.…”

“…The prevalence of growth faltering, chronic ear disease, anaemia and infected skin sores in this analysis were all comparable to those found in published data. [8][9][10][11] Our sample size over 2360 children meant that our estimates are likely to be robust estimates. Overall, there was evidence that health in Indigenous children aged under 2 years may have been improving.…”

Protocol for a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Racial, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Disparities in COVID-19

“…Racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic status (SES) disparities in health are ubiquitous [6,7] and have been linked directly or indirectly to individual life expectancy and mortality [8]. Evidence shows a connection between low-SES and high risk of infectious disease in terms of both incidence and severity [9,10].…”

Racism or racial tolerance: Vive la différence

“…Racism continues to be demeaning, disenfranchising and damaging for the indigenous populations in many developing and industrialised countries . Health economist Gavin Mooney coined the term ‘institutionalised racism’ to describe the systematic discrimination that persists against the Indigenous peoples of Australia .…”