With such easy access to a great healthcare system in Australia’s big cities, it’s easy to be unaware of the very real problems faced by the Indigenous people living in remote communities.
Chronic kidney disease is a particular concern. Rates of end-stage kidney disease in Indigenous people from remote and very remote communities are up to 20 times higher than comparable non-indigenous peoples.
Treatment required is expensive, ongoing and can often mean people have to move far away from their remote communities in order to access it.
The resulting dislocation and loss of cultural engagement and connection to family and country is an incalculable loss for these individuals and their communities.