• Belinda Urquhart, Neil Thomson
• Australian Indigenous HealthBulletin

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Image: manoamike / Flickr

28 August 2009Indigenous Australians experience a significant, disproportionate burden of ill-health when compared with non-Indigenous Australians. This is evidenced in the higher rates of disease and injury in the Indigenous population and their substantially lower life expectancy. The factors contributing to the poor health status of Indigenous
Australians are extensive and complex, and reflect events involving dispossession, alienation, and segregation. Despite the multiplicity of factors responsible for the sub-standard health status of Indigenous people, substance use and abuse is one factor that has been identified as having a detrimental impact on poor health. A considerable body of research exists highlighting the deleterious impact of alcohol on the health and wellbeing of Indigenous people, but much less attention has been directed to the impact of kava.

Image: manoamike / Flickr