APRIL,Edition # 23, 2001

Aboriginal Health is a National challenge to increase life expectancy of Australia's indigenous people.
In the Northern Territory (NT) there are some 100 health clinics to provide services to the 30,000 Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders living in the NT.
Twent five of these clinics are owned and managed by a local board, the remainder being under the control of the NT Government Health Services.
The Government controlled health clinics are provided with pharmacy services from a regional hospital where the main function is for supplying a service to hospital patients.
The Aboriginal clinics in more remote places have to come second place to hospital patients when it comes to priorities.
The Section 100 of the National Health Act is used to give these clinics access to more Commonwealth money to improve other services.
In addition the money made available to Guild members to provide "Quality Use of Medicine" services through the "Third Agreement" is available.
But the clinics, which come under NT Government control, cannot access these funds as they do not deal with a Guild pharmacy.
Through access to PBS funding, the Government run clinics are supposed to have a surplus of money created by the PBS funding to spend on other services.
The NT Government is still trying to work out how to claim for PBS through the HIC, so it can have some benefit to pass on.
Retail pharmacy has been doing this for years and is undoubtedly in the best position to use it's PBS Approval Number to benefit Aboriginal Medical Services.
The NT Government is supposed to be moving towards outsourcing business to the private sector as part of an overall restructuring program.
The sooner this can happen the better for in the meantime the "at risk" sections of the population, the indigenous Aboriginals, are missing out all round.
Ends

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