Comparative Analysis of Australian Aboriginals, Torres Strait Islanders, and the First Nations of Canada

Comparative Analysis of Australian Aboriginals, Torres Strait Islanders, and the First Nations of Canada

INTRODUCTION

Equality in health implies that ideally everyone should have a fair opportunity to attain his or her full health potential and, more reasonably, that no one should be disadvantaged from achieving this potential. Based on this definition, the aim of policy for equity and health is not to eliminate all health differences so that everyone has the same level and quality of health, but rather to reduce or eliminate those which result from factors which are considered to be avoidable and unfair. To appreciate the importance of striving for equity in relation to health, it is necessary to be aware of just how extensive are the differences in health found in the world today. In every part of the region, and in every type of political and social system, differences in health have been noted between different social groups and between different geographical areas in the same country (Whitehead 2000). There is consistent evidence that inequalities in health result in disadvantaged groups having poorer survival chances, suffering a heavier burden of illness, and sharing a similar pattern of low quality of life

The poor health of the Australian Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders is well known. Since the 1970s, mortality rates have been declining, but life expectancy has not changed and the gap between the Aboriginal population and the total Australian population has widened. This pattern contrasts with that of the Indigenous population of Canada where marked improvements in health have occurred. From that standpoint, this paper will discuss the important issues of health care inequalities that exist with the Aboriginals in Australia and compare them to those which subsist in the First Nations of Canada.

POPULATION OF AUSTRALIA

Australians have among the highest life expectancy in the world and most have ready access to comprehensive health care of high quality. In the 1995 National Health Survey, 83% of Australians aged 15 or over reported their overall health as excellent, very good or good (ABS 1997). The average life expectancy in 2000 was high for both men and women being 76 years and 82 years respectively. In terms of disability-adjusted life expectancy (DALE), Australia ranks in 2nd place after 191 countries (WHO 2000). In 1998, males at birth could expect to live for 63.3 years without experiencing major disability and women could live for 57.