The Australian: Diabetes poised to 'wipe out blacks' [ 13nov06 ]

Diabetes poised to 'wipe out blacks'

by Stephen Lunn
13th November 2006

AUSTRALIA'S Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population could be wiped out this century as European-style solutions to addressing diabetes -- exercise and diet -- fail to cut through in indigenous communities.

Diabetes expert Paul Zimmet has warned that type 2, or adult-onset, diabetes affected one in four indigenous adults and was increasingly being diagnosed in Aborigines as young as 10.

"Without urgent action there certainly is a real risk of a major wipe-out of indigenous communities, if not total extinction, within this century," Professor Zimmet said.

The foundation director of the International Diabetes Institute and academic at Monash University in Melbourne said indigenous life expectancy was "low and dropping".

"Diabetes is hitting them very hard, so the infections, amputations and kidney disease will just wreak more havoc. Unfortunately, looking for a solution inthe traditional European approach of eating healthy foods and exercising more regularly may not be the answer," he told The Australian yesterday.

Professor Zimmet will warn an international conference on indigenous diabetes in Melbourne today that the disease is spreading so fast through all sectors of society "it could bankrupt the world's health systems and cripple entire economies". He added: "Diabetes is the biggest epidemic in human history."

Turning the tide in Aboriginal communities would require a focus on keeping children diabetes-free, he said.

A spokeswoman for federal Health Minister Tony Abbott, who will open the conference, said: "Although health spending per indigenous person is 18per cent higher than health spending generally, on almost every indicator indigenous people's health outcomes are worse compared to non-indigenous people. Poor indigenous health has as much to do with social factors as inadequate facilities. There are no magic bullets here."

Professor Martin Silink, president-elect of the International Diabetes Federation and a pediatric endocrinologist at The Children's Hospital in Sydney, said Aboriginal communities needed to find a solution.

"The strategies we have to combat diabetes aren't working for us (non-Aboriginal people), and they definitely aren't working in indigenous areas. There is no way we can impose a solution," said Professor Silink, who will co-chair the conference.

The other chairman, former West Australian minister and Aboriginal diabetes sufferer Ernie Bridge, runs a non-medical diabetes prevention program for indigenous communities that focuses on getting in before diabetes can take hold.

"We deliberately target children, reinforcing messages on diet, nutrition and physical education in partnership with schools. And we are getting exciting results," Mr Bridge said.