Endemic trachoma a national shame: Hugh Taylor
Andrew Trounson; 17/6/08
Hugh Taylor has given up on “bleeding hearts”. More than 30 years since Professor Taylor and fellow eye doctor Fred Hollows raced about the bush treating cataracts and trachoma in indigenous communities, infection rates of trachoma in many outback communities are just as bad as they used to be. And for just $20 million in spending over five years, Professor Taylor believes he could eradicate it, if only governments were prepared to make it a sustained priority. “We know how to eliminate it and we (have eliminated it) in our own community, so why on earth aren’t we doing it in Aboriginal communities?” he said. For Professor Taylor, it is a national shame that at a time when poor African countries such as Niger are on the way to eradicating trachoma by treating millions of people, Australia has not been able to muster the will to wipe out the problem.
See; http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23876015-5013404,00.html
Tags: Aboriginal, Australia, health