Diphtheria outbreak: Time to up vaccination rates
By ERWIN CHLANDA
A Curtin University-led program to reverse declining vaccination rates among Aboriginal communities coincides with the nation's worst outbreak of diphtheria, mostly in the Northern Territory.
Lead researcher and Noongar woman Professor Anne-Marie Eades (at right) from the WA Curtin School of Nursing says the decline in immunisation rates following the COVID-19 pandemic was a serious public health issue, particularly for groups already facing health inequities.
“We risk seeing preventable diseases return and disproportionately harm our communities.”
The Territory Health Department has not replied to a question from the Alice Springs News what is the estimated percentage of people in Central Australia who are adequately vaccinated for diphtheria.
Central Australian Aboriginal Congress medical officer John Boffa was not available for comment.
“Our previous work showed that confidence and vaccine uptake improve when Aboriginal communities lead the process and resources reflect culture, language, lived experience and local priorities," says Professor Eades.
“This program will scale that approach across more regions, with paid community champions embedded in each site.”
The new program will focus on pregnant women, babies under two and adolescents – groups for whom delayed or missed vaccinations carry significant risk.
The diphtheria outbreak has been described by NT Senator Malarndirri McCarthy as a "growing concern, a national concern".
Steven Edgington (at left), NT Minister for Health and Aboriginal Affairs, said last week there are 157 cases in the Northern Territory: "The national critical care unit in Darwin is coordinating the response from Darwin."
Taking in WA, the top of SA and Queensland, the cases are now likely to be in the hundreds.
There has been one death most likely caused by diphtheria but we don't know where and when, nor the gender and the age of the deceased.
The ABC on May 15 quoted Dr Boffa that the death had occurred "a number of weeks ago" in "a remote area".
Congress is in the space where action needs to happen.
The majority of ill people are Aborigines. Congress has whopping budget of $100.7m (year ending June 2025) and more than 500 staff.
The Feds have also contributed $5m for the new health hub, where the Memo Club once stood, a massive building in a town of many empty ones. The total cost is not available.
Questions we put to the health department on May 21 have still not been answered: How many cases – suspected as well as actual – are there in Central Australia (800 km radius from Alice Springs), and in Alice itself?
Senator McCarthy meanwhile is busy creating a new bureaucracy: "We’ve stood up an advisory group or a governance body that includes the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre along with NACCHO in terms of the Coalition and in terms of coordination with Aboriginal community-controlled health centres across Australia. So that’s the critical first step."
Mr Edgington: "We are working in partnership through NT Health, the Aboriginal community-controlled sector right across the board. And this is critical to get the messaging out right across the Northern Territory.
"So, what I can confirm is that we have a very strong partnership working on the ground in many remote communities.
"We’ve established pop-up clinics in Alice Springs, Darwin, Palmerston and Katherine, and those health clinics out in the bush are doing everything they can to work with the community to identify those that not only require the vaccination but the booster as well."
PHOTO at top: Congress Facebook
UPDATE May 27: A spokesman for Health Minister says his understanding is the person who has died was from diphtheria was from the Big Rivers region.
The government has still not replied to our question: What is the estimated percentage of people in Central Australia who are adequately vaccinated?