From: http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,1500313%5E10494,00.html Aboriginal body quits health council STORIES IN THIS SECTION By STUART RINTOUL 09dec00 ONE day after John Howard described reconciliation as an unstoppable force, the peak indigenous health organisation has quit the federal Government's main advisory council on the sector, angry at the direction Aboriginal health is taking. The National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation quit the council that advises Health Minister Michael Wooldridge, saying proposed changes to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Strategy were "offensive" to Aboriginal people. At the same time, Aboriginal health worker Lyn McInnes, one of three NACCHO representatives who made the announcement at the organisation's annual general meeting yesterday, attacked the reconciliation process, saying millions of dollars that might have been spent improving the health of Aboriginal people had been frittered away on reconciliation. The organisation represents more than 100 Aboriginal medical services throughout Australia. The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Strategy has set the direction for Aboriginal health since 1989. NACCHO spokesman Henry Councillor said draft changes to the strategy contained "much that is offensive to Aboriginal peoples, particularly those sections referring to the stolen generations and other aspects of Aboriginal history". The concern is believed to centre on the strategy treating the stolen generations as a separate mental health issue. There are also concerns that the revised strategy will further concentrate Aboriginal health services at the expense of specific issues such as the high rate of youth suicide and drug abuse in Aboriginal communities. Mr Councillor said the revised strategy "does not affirm the right of Aboriginal communities to control their own health" and the thrust of the original strategy had been "ripped out and watered down to meet government policy and budget restraints". The decision of the health services to withdraw from the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Council, introduced three years ago, means that Dr Wooldridge will not receive advice from Aboriginal communities on Aboriginal health. Mr Councillor said that while the vote of the health services was overwhelming "it was not a light decision". A spokeswoman for Dr Wooldridge said he had received neither formal nor informal communication from the Aboriginal health services about their concerns before they decided to quit. ------------------------------------------------------ RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
