Indigenous eye health: Blindness, trachoma rates improve dramatically, but more work needed
The rate of blindness among Indigenous Australians is falling fast, but remains three times worse than the national average, experts say.
Eye health experts say further commitment is needed to entirely close the gap with the rest of the population.
Professor Hugh Taylor, from the University of Melbourne's School of Population and Global Health, has been running a program to close the gap on Indigenous eye health.
When the program was launched in 2008, the rate of blindness among Indigenous Australians was six times worse than non-Indigenous Australians, Professor Taylor said.
He said data released today shows the rate of blindness had improved by 2015, but was still three times worse than the national average.
However, the rate of progress suggests the gap could be closed by 2020.
"Most of the vision loss, we could literally fix overnight," he said.
"You give somebody a pair of glasses, they'll see right away.
"With cataract surgery, they'll see the next day.
"So we can actually fix and address this [quickly] and we are making really good progress."
However, Professor Taylor said closing the gap entirely would require continued funding for cataract surgery, optometry, Medicare support for eye checks, promotional messaging and diabetes treatments.
Australia remains the only developed country with endemic trachoma.
Indigenous communities are the only place the disease is found in Australia.
"We need more timely reporting of data [about trachoma] to allow more intense targeted intervention in hot spots," Professor Taylor said.
A key to preventing trachoma is encouraging children to keep their faces clean, and Professor Taylor said a more orchestrated effort was needed by governments to ensure functional and safe bathrooms are available in Indigenous communities.
Poverty, clean water must be addressed
The chief executive of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), Pat Turner, said it was encouraging to see the numbers improve, but the current statistics are still "unacceptable."
NACCHO has 140 member services around the nation, providing primary healthcare in cities, regional areas and isolated communities.
Ms Turner said the problems causing poor eye health were the same as those causing poor outcomes in Indigenous health in general.
"The difficulties that are ongoing, in my view, relate to the lack of timely specialist visits to remote areas," she said.
"And the second area that I would point to, in terms of needing vast improvement, are the social determinations of health, which include ready access to potable water."
She said some Indigenous communities still have no reliable supply of potable water, which is crucial in the fight against trachoma.
Ms Turner said communities had shown their willingness to be involved in health initiatives, shown by the eradication of trachoma in many areas.