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Change in Aboriginal childhood morbidity and mortality in Bourke 1971–84
Author(s) -
HARRIS M. F.,
KAMIEN M.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1754.1990.tb02391.x
Subject(s) - medicine , trachoma , socioeconomic status , pneumonia , disease , pediatrics , health care , early childhood , environmental health , demography , population , pathology , sociology , economics , economic growth , psychology , developmental psychology
In the early 1970s, the Aboriginal community of Bourke attempted to improve its socioeconomic and health status through a number of community development activities. As a result, markers of nutrition in early childhood, housing conditions and access to health care all improved, in spite of a deterioration in employment opportunities and adult health. Coincidentally, most markers of the health of Aboriginal children in Bourke improved over the period 1971–84. In particular, Aboriginal child admissions due to gastroenteritis, eye and ear infections and accidents, and the community prevalence of trachoma, middle ear disease and pneumonia among Aboriginal children, decreased. Skin infections were an exception to this general picture, becoming more prevalent over the period.