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AUSTRALIA: Health risks significantly higher for Aboriginal children

Australian health statistics show that Aboriginal children experience greater health risks then the rest of Australia's population. Over the last ten years the number of Aboriginal children suffering from malnutrition has increased by more than 25%. Research also shows that Aboriginal children have a greater chance of being affected by bronchiectasis than non-Aboriginal Australian children. One in 40 Aboriginal children come down with the lung condition compared with one in 2,000 non-Aboriginal children. The health disparity between Aboriginal children and children from the rest of the population does not appear to end with childhood. Figures also indicate that more Aborigines suffer from diabetes than the rest of the population. One in 20 Aborigines suffers from the condition. This figure is three times higher than that for the rest of the population.