Closing The Gap Of Life Expectancy In Australia By 2031: Strategies And Initiatives
Importance of Closing the Gap of Life Expectancy
The target in this assignment is closing the gap of life expectancy in Australia by 2031.Health is a basic need and a healthy nation means a healthy economy. This target is therefore important to the country of Australia since the level of health will generally improve and this means majority of the citizens will participate in the economic growth of the country. This target is on track because when a comparison is made between the years back when the target had not been initiated and after it was set up, there has been generally an improvement. The morbidity and the mortality rates have totally reduced .This is due to the different strategies that have been put in place .In this assignment, there will be clear demonstration of the strategies being utilized so that the target is eventually met.
The remote communities in Australia have a wish that their children grow up healthy though they experience difficulties in accessing basic nutritious and affordable foods. It is due to this fact that there is a campaign in Australia that is aiming at closing the gap of life expectancy by 2013 among the indigenous communities that include the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander people (Angell, Eades, & Jan, 2016). In so doing, there are different strategies that are being implemented and include the holistic approach to improve the health outcomes. The table below summarizes the life expectancies of selected ages in Australia as at 2010-2012.
|
MALES |
FEMALES |
|||||
|
Age in years |
Indigenous |
Non-Indigenous |
Gap(Years) |
Indigenous |
Non-indigenous |
Gap(Years) |
|
0 |
69.1 |
79.7 |
-10.6 |
73.7 |
83.1 |
-9.5 |
|
1 |
68.7 |
79.0 |
-10.3 |
73.2 |
82.4 |
-9.2 |
|
5 |
64.9 |
75.1 |
-10.2 |
69.3 |
78.5 |
-9.2 |
|
25 |
45.7 |
55.5 |
-9.8 |
49.8 |
58.7 |
-8.9 |
|
50 |
24.5 |
31.7 |
-7.2 |
27.2 |
34.4 |
-7.1 |
|
65 |
13.9 |
18.6 |
-4.7 |
15.8 |
20.6 |
-4.8 |
|
85 |
4.2 |
4.6 |
-0.4 |
4.4 |
4.8 |
-0.3 |
Between the years 2005 to 2007 and 2010 to 2012, there was very little reduction in the life expectancy gap of only 0.8 years for males and 0.1 years for the female in Australia (Brown et al., 2015). Over the period however, the mortality rates among the indigenous communities have significantly reduced by 14% from1998.There has however not been a significant improvement from 2006 and the life expectancy gap to be met by 2031 has not been on track .The only improvement has been the reduction in mortality rates among the indigenous communities as a result of chronic diseases from 1998.The reduction has been attributed to several initiatives that were set up by the Australian government to close the gap and improve the life expectancy by 2031.In this assignment ,the strategies that are currently underway as well as those suggested will be highlighted.
The Australian Government has set aside a paltry $135 million aside through the Indigenous Advancement Strategy. The aim of this amount is to support over 151 activities especially sports which could generally be used to achieve closing the gap initiative (Doyle, 2015). This initiative has the objective of motivating the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islanders participate in sport and recreation activities and this would lead to improved well-being and resilience. Exercise generally improves the health of the participants. This initiative is therefore assisting in closing the gap of life expectancy by 2031.
Strategies for Closing the Gap of Life Expectancy
Consumption of excess sugar has been associated with a lot of infections such as hypertension. With excessive consumption of sugar very high among the indigenous communities in Australia, closing the life expectancy would be quite difficult (Gracey, 2014). In order to counter this, the Australian government has come up with an initiative that aims at reducing the sale of excessively sugared products that are sold in different shops amongst the indigenous communities. The main sales point of food to the indigenous communities is the store (Kontis et al., 2017). The Government therefore regulates the outlet of the sugar and the central stores. This strategy is being implemented in phases up to June 2020.It is however primarily focusing on sugary drinks and it is expected to be extended to other products.
Alcohol, tobacco and other drugs are commonly abused among the Australian indigenous communities. This actions negatively impacts their health. To improve on their health and close the gap of life expectancy by 2031, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Drug strategy was set up in 2014-2015 (Marmot, 2017).This strategy offers an array of actions to be undertaken so that there is minimal harm of individuals and communities by the mentioned substances.
The Australian Government usually provides funds to more than 80 organizations throughout the country to offer indigenous specific alcohol and other drug treatment services. This has been made possible through the Indigenous Advancement Strategy. The objective of this strategy is to minimize the misuse of different substances by providing different services such as early interventions, treatment, prevention, rehabilitation and finally the transitional after care as well as outreach support. Besides, there is around $70 million that has been disbursed through the Advancement strategy in 2017-18 and so far 170,400 cases of care has already been provided to the indigenous communities (Mitrou et al., 2014). This according to the 2015-16 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Organizations online Services Report.
It is the Norther Territory that is in dire need of the reducing substance and harm so as to close the gap of life expectancy by 2031.The Australian Government has noted that and has already set aside a whopping $91.5 million for a period of seven years that will be used to tackle the misuse of alcohol with the partnership of the National Partnership on Northern Territory Remote Aboriginal Investment (Phillips, Morrell, Taylor, & Daniels, 2014) .The $91.5 million was broken down such that $13 million will be used for Alcohol Initiatives while around $14 million will be for the AAI workforce. Alcohol and substance abuse generally leads to deterioration in health among the indigenous communities. Reducing this vice would therefore assist in closing the gap of life expectancy by 2031.
Immunization Programs
According to the World Health Organization, lack of immunization significantly contributes to the deteriorating health among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders communities. To close the gap of life expectancy among this communities by 2031, there have been different organizations that have come up to drive immunization among these communities (Piot, Fleet, & Dube, 2008). The United Nations Children’s Fund as well as the World Health Organization are covering the costs of immunization among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Besides, there is the Australia’s National Immunization Program which works in collaboration with the Australian Government to reduce the burden of vaccine preventable diseases among the indigenous communities. The NIP also offers free immunization services against 17 diseases that can be prevented through vaccination among the eligible groups which mostly includes children, the elderly and expectant women among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This project has been a success since reports indicate that since the project was initiated back in 1980s, the rate of immunization have improved from 53% to 90% (Reath & O’Mara, 2018).To further boost this initiative, the NIP was expanded further on 1 July 2017 to offer ongoing catch up vaccines that are similar to those provided during childhood to all the young people when they are 19 years old.
The Australian Government has really made significant efforts to close the gap of life expectancy by 2031.However, there is still more that has to be done. I would therefore suggest that the government implements school based Nutrition amongst the vulnerable regions and communities. This project has previously worked in other countries such as Canada and the United States of America. According to the World Health Organization report in 2012 for example, 12% of nematode diseases were reduced as a result school based nutrition projects (Walsh & Kangaharan, 2016). The estimated budget for this projects in USA was $ 21 million. The Australian Government should therefore set aside more than that amount to implement the projects in vulnerable regions like the Northern Territory .The project should focus on providing nutritious meals to children and increase their physical activities engagements. This project will no doubt close the gap of life expectancy by 2031.
Another important project that can be initiated is the National Indigenous Critical Response Service. The Australian Government should consider setting aside a certain amount approximately $10 million in the form of the National Indigenous Critical Response Services that will offer support to different individuals ,families as well as the communities in response to certain conditions like suicide. This project can assess the needs of the communities then offer practical social support (Wilson, 2014). This project would coordinate different services in a culturally conducive manner and would also strengthen community capacity and resilience among high risk communities and this would lead to closing the gap in life expectancy by 2031
Reducing Substance Abuse
Conclusion
It is the wish of majority of the indigenous communities to lead a healthy lifestyle. Majority of this people however lead healthy lifestyles and there level of life expectancy has remained relatively low for quite some time. The Australian Government has actually noted this and has already initiated different strategies to close the gap of life expectancy by 2031.Some of the projects currently in practice include immunization, reducing drug and substance abuse and modifying healthy lifestyles by increasing the rate of physical activities. Finally, the Australian Government is also controlling consumption of excess sugars by regulating the sale of sugary drinks at the stores .I would however suggest other strategies that include setting up the National Indigenous Critical Response Service that would respond to critical situations like suicide. School based Nutrition Projects would also improve the health of vulnerable communities. Closing the gap of life expectancy by 2031 is an essential exercise that the Australian government should emphasis on since a healthy population means an increase in the economic status of the country at large.
References
Angell, B., Eades, S., & Jan, S. (2016). To Close the Gap we need to identify the best (and worst) buys in Indigenous health. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 41(3), 224-226. doi:10.1111/1753-6405.12612
Brown, A., O’Shea, R. L., Mott, K., McBride, K. F., Lawson, T., & Jennings, G. L. (2015). A Strategy for Translating Evidence Into Policy and Practice to Close the Gap – Developing Essential Service Standards for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cardiovascular Care. Heart, Lung and Circulation, 24(2), 119-125. doi:10.1016/j.hlc.2014.09.020
Doyle, K. E. (2015). Australian Aboriginal Peoples and Evidence-Based Policies: Closing the Gap in Social Interventions. Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work, 12(2), 166-174. doi:10.1080/15433714.2013.777005
Gracey, M. (2014). Why closing the Aboriginal health gap is so elusive. Internal Medicine Journal, 44(11), 1141-1143. doi:10.1111/imj.12577
Kontis, V., Bennett, J. E., Mathers, C. D., Li, G., Foreman, K., & Ezzati, M. (2017). Future life expectancy in 35 industrialised countries: projections with a Bayesian model ensemble. The Lancet, 389(10076), 1323-1335. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(16)32381-9
Marmot, M. G. (2017). Dignity, social investment and the Indigenous health gap. The Medical Journal of Australia, 207(1), 20-21. doi:10.5694/mja17.00297
Mitrou, F., Cooke, M., Lawrence, D., Povah, D., Mobilia, E., Guimond, E., & Zubrick, S. R. (2014). Gaps in Indigenous disadvantage not closing: a census cohort study of social determinants of health in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand from 1981–2006. BMC Public Health, 14(1). doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-201
Phillips, B., Morrell, S., Taylor, R., & Daniels, J. (2014). A review of life expectancy and infant mortality estimations for Australian Aboriginal people. BMC Public Health, 14(1). doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-1
Piot, P., Fleet, J., & Dube, S. (2008). Closing the gap in the next decade of HAART: one world, one standard. A Decade of HAART, 497-508. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199225859.003.0029
Reath, J. S., & O’Mara, P. (2018). Closing the gap in cardiovascular risk for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. The Medical Journal of Australia, 209(1), 17-18. doi:10.5694/mja18.00345
Walsh, W., & Kangaharan, N. (2016). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cardiovascular Health 2016: Is the Gap Closing? Heart, Lung and Circulation, 25(8), 765-767. doi:10.1016/j.hlc.2016.05.110
Wilson, T. (2014). New Population and Life Expectancy Estimates for the Indigenous Population of Australia’s Northern Territory, 1966–2011. PLoS ONE, 9(5), e97576. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0097576