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Apunipima Cape York Health Council pre-election charter
Public Health Medical Advisor Dr Mark Wenitong with Apunipima CEO Cleveland Fagan. Image supplied
by Juliana Doupe 7 September 2013
A
punipima Cape York Health Council’s PreElection Charter has received bipartisan support from both major political parties. The Charter calls on the next Australian government to: • Honour the current commitment of $11.7m for five new Primary Health Care Centres by 2014; • Provide funding for an additional four new Primary Health Care Centres by 2015; • Guarantee that all health services on Cape York are under community control by 2016; • Delivering untied workforce funding to underpin a flexible, responsive community based workforce; and
• Ensure there is a doctor in every Cape York community by 2018; Apunipima Cape York CEO Cleveland Fagan said transitioning Cape York health services to community control by 2016 was critical to improving health outcomes on the Cape. ‘Community control means controlled by the community – their health centres, their staff, their solutions. Apunipima supports local decision making and local solutions. Empowering communities to be part of the solution provides employment, career pathways, greater health literacy and improved health outcomes.’ ‘Cape York health services need to be controlled by the people they serve. That is the only way forward and that is why we are calling on the next Australian government to support community control and
help close the Gap.’ ‘Community control is the vision – the enablers are improved and enhanced infrastructure and a community – based workforce to deliver best practice health care. Australians, whether they are living in Napranum or Sydney’s North Shore, should have the same standard of health care.’ Apunipima is committed to Closing the Gap on the Cape. Our 2013 – 2018 Strategic Plan has the following objectives: • Reduce smoking rates by 15 % (from approximately 50 % down to 35 %) • Reduce the smoking rates of pregnant women by 25 % (from 50 % down to 25 %) • Maintain immunisation rates (around 90% of Cape York kids are fully immunised) • Increase antenatal visits • Increase adult health checks
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