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• Indigenous Chronic
  Disease Package
• Tackling Chronic Disease
  Risk Factors
  • National action to reduce Indigenous smoking rate
  • Helping Indigenous Australians to reduce their risk of chronic disease
  • Local Indigenous community campaigns to promote better health
• Improving Chronic Disease
  Management and Follow up
  • Subsidising PBS medicine co-payments
  • Higher utilisation costs for MBS and PBS
  • Supporting primary care providers to coordinate chronic disease management
  • Improving Indigenous participation in health care through chronic disease self management
  • Increasing specialist and allied health follow up care
  • Monitoring and evaluation
• Workforce Expansion,
  Training and Support
  • Workforce education and training
  • Expanding the outreach and service capacity of Indigenous health services
  • Engaging Medicare Locals to improve Indigenous Access to mainstream primary care
  • Attracting more people to work in Indigenous Health
  • Clinical practice and decision support

Closing the Gap - The Indigenous Chronic Disease Package in 2009-10 - Annual Progress Report on the Australian Government’s contribution to the National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes - November 2010

Foreword

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Australia has an unprecedented opportunity to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.

As a group, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have one of the lowest life expectancy rates in the nation. A large part of this is due to chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes,cancer, chronic respiratory disease and chronic kidney disease. Many of these have common risk factors,including smoking, poor nutrition and lack of exercise.

Great work is being done by many dedicated people around Australia and there have been significant achievements, but more is needed. Much of the excess burden of disease can be prevented and managed with better access to health services,education and support for lifestyle changes.

The Indigenous Chronic Disease Package aims to achieve this by providing support to the health sector and better access to health care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It addresses the risk factors that cause chronic disease in the first place and seeks to improve how chronic disease is managed through better primary care and coordinated follow-up care.

The Package recognises and builds upon the many successful programs and initiatives already working in communities throughout Australia, and also provides training and support for an expanded Indigenous health workforce.

Fundamentally, the Package recognises that equity of access to health services and information is vital if Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are to make informed choices about their own health care. As the Minister for Indigenous Health,

I am pleased to present the first progress report on the implementation of the Indigenous Chronic Disease Package under the National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes. This progress report provides the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, state and territory governments and the wider Australian public with a valuable update on what has been achieved in these first 12 months.

I acknowledge and thank the many people who have dedicated themselves to closing the gap and supported the work undertaken through this Package.

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