Couzos Sophie, Thiele Dea Delaney
National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
Med J Aust. 2007 May 21;186(10):522-4. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2007.tb01027.x.
There is evidence that Australia is not meeting its obligations to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for their right to the "highest attainable standard" of health, required under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Poor access to primary health care for Aboriginal peoples and substantial shortfalls in government spending to address this are in violation of the ICESCR. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' share of the universal health coverage expenditure offered to all Australians is less per person than for other Australians. The failure to monitor the provision of mainstream health services to Aboriginal peoples and inequitable distribution of health facilities and services compound these violations. Equality in health between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians is achievable, but not until the shortfall in health services expenditure for Indigenous Australians is addressed.
有证据表明，澳大利亚未履行其对原住民和托雷斯海峡岛民的义务，即未保障他们享有《经济、社会及文化权利国际公约》（ICESCR）所要求的“可达到的最高健康标准”的权利。原住民获得初级医疗保健的机会有限，而政府用于解决这一问题的支出存在大幅缺口，这违反了《经济、社会及文化权利国际公约》。与所有澳大利亚人享有的全民医保支出相比，原住民和托雷斯海峡岛民每人获得的份额更少。未能监测向原住民提供主流医疗服务的情况，以及医疗设施和服务分配不公，加剧了这些侵权行为。澳大利亚原住民和非原住民之间的健康平等是可以实现的，但前提是要解决澳大利亚原住民医疗服务支出的缺口问题。
