INDIGENOUS Australians in remote areas will be hardest hit by climate change because of their poorer health and access to services, a team of environment and indigenous health experts has warned.
And the documented link between the health of traditional Aborigines and the health of their ancestral country could make them more vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
In an editorial in the Medical Journal Of Australia , three authors from different fields argued that the vulnerability of indigenous people should be recognised so health policy could be adjusted to counter the effects of rising temperatures in some of the hottest reaches of central and northern Australia.
The authors are Donna Green, a PhD candidate at the University of NSW, Ursula King of the Australian National University, and Joe Morrison, of Charles Darwin University.
"Elevated temperatures and increases in hot spells are expected to be a major problem for indigenous health in remote areas, where cardiovascular and respiratory disease are more prevalent and there are many elderly people with inadequate facilities to cope with the increased heat stress," they wrote.
Diseases such as bacterial diarrhoea, which are common in hot, dry areas, could also increase among indigenous populations. According to one Federal Government study, a one- to 3.5-degree increase in temperatures in Alice Springs within 40 years could lead to a 5 to 18 per cent increase in diarrhoea cases. Dengue fever, which breaks out occasionally in North Queensland in winter, would also be a bigger risk in a hotter Australia.
The susceptibility of indigenous people was compounded by the probable effects of climate change, the authors said. "For many indigenous people, a connection with 'country' - a place of ancestry, identity, language, livelihood and community - is a key determinant of health.
"If the community-owned country becomes 'sick' through environmental degradation, climate impacts, or inability of the traditional owners to fulfil cultural obligations through ongoing management and habitation of their land, the people of that land will feel this 'sickness' themselves."
The authors said the challenge for Australian doctors would be to look beyond a Western, scientific approach to indigenous health and acknowledge the influence of ecology and other factors on indigenous lives.
More services would be needed in northern Australia, as well as cross-cultural training for medical professionals and changes to the teaching practices in medical schools.
If done properly, that approach would raise social and economic indicators, not just health, they said.
"Ignoring the warning signs and failing to take action is no longer an option."