Calabria and colleagues1 report that, overall, 9.8% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults are at high absolute cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, reflecting how poorly Australia supports the social and cultural determinants of health for the First Australians. However, this is a different nuance from their statement: “Absolute CVD risk is high among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people”. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have median age of 23 years,2 and only 1.1% of those in the 18–24 age group are at high risk.
The full article is accessible to AMA
members and paid subscribers.
Login to MJA or subscribe now.
- 1. Calabria B, Korda RJ, Lovett RW, et al. Absolute cardiovascular disease risk and lipid-lowering therapy among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Med J Aust 2018; 209: 36-41. <MJA full text>
- 2. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Census of population and housing: reflecting Australia — stories from the census, 2016 (Cat. No. 2071.0). Canberra: ABS; 2017. http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/2071.0∼2016∼Main%20Features∼Aboriginal%20and%20Torres%20Strait%20islander%20Population%20Article∼12 (viewed June 2018).
- 3. Bond CJ. A culture of ill health: public health or Aboriginality? Med J Aust 2005; 183: 39-41. <MJA full text>
- 4. Ewen SC, Hollinsworth D. “Unwell while Aboriginal”: iatrogenesis in Australian medical education and clinical case management. Adv Med Educ Pract 2016; 7: 311-315.
- 5. Walter M. Data politics and Indigenous representation in Australian statistics. In: Kukutai T, Taylor J, editors. Indigenous data sovereignty: towards an agenda. Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2016. pp. 79-108.
Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.
I am supported by a scholarship from the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation awarded through the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.
No relevant disclosures.