From the Chief Executive
Improving Indigenous Health
I had a really humbling experience recently in Alice Springs where I helped present a new state-of-the-art mobile dialysis truck to the remote communities in the Western Desert, on behalf of Medicines Australia.
It was genuinely moving to meet the people who will benefit from this truck, and actually quite thrilling to understand just what a difference it will make to their lives. The occasion also reminded me that Medicines Australia has an important role to play in the community, over and above researching and manufacturing medicines.
The problem for dialysis patients in the Western Desert – and in other remote communities all over Australia presumably – is that when they get sick they have to leave their community to live near a renal dialysis facility in one of the major towns or regional centres. Because there is no access to these facilities in the community, people are often unable to return home even for short visits to family and friends, because the journey is simply too long.
The renal dialysis truck is already travelling to communities throughout the area, allowing patients to arrange to return home to their communities for short visits and to undergo dialysis while they are there.
It’s essentially a modern medical facility on wheels supporting the health of Australians who don’t have access to all the healthcare services they need.
The truck is one of a number of projects Medicines Australia has committed to funding that will help improve indigenous health.
Page updated: February 2012