CERA in the swim to reduce infectious disease

More than 4,000 people at two remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory are expected to benefit from a project designed to reduce the prevalence of infectious disease.

The Centre for Eye Research Australia’s Dr Heathcote Wright is conducting an evaluation of the health impact of the installation of swimming pools in the remote costal and desert communities.

He returned recently to the region to advance the project, and said ‘in one community a pool is under construction and the site and plans for another pool have been agreed upon.’

“I am assessing the prevalence of a number of childhood infectious diseases, before and after the construction of a swimming pool,” Dr Wright said.

“The hypothesis is that children who swim in the pool will be cleaner and will have a reduced burden of infectious disease.”

The project, jointly funded by the Federal and Northern Territory governments and the local communities, reports that at one locality – about 300 kilometres from Alice Springs – 55% of primary school children had trachoma.

Trachoma, commonly effects children living in lower-socio-economic regions and causes scarring of the eye-lid, which can lead to the eye-lashes rubbing on the cornea. If untreated, trachoma can lead to vision loss.

“There are about 3,500 people living in the coastal community and about 700 in the desert community. If this project can prove that pools directly benefit the health of children, then it will provide great impetus to continue to build pools in remote Australian communities and assist more people,” Dr Heathcote said.

The construction and maintenance of these facilities will be expensive but it may prove to be a very effective way to improve the health of young Indigenous children.”