Annual Report 1998

Report from the Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin
Annual Report 1998

In 1998 the Menzies School of Health Research has continued to provide leadership in solving problems in Aboriginal and tropical health. The School was especially delighted with the elevation of Mr Richard Ryan, Chairman of the Governing Board, as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO).

Another highlight of 1998 was the 3rd Quinquennial Review, completed in October by a Review Committee chaired by Prof Jim Pittard, FAA, from the University of Melbourne. The review team commented favourably on the programs of the School and was enthusiastic about the research and its potential benefit for the health and quality of life of Aboriginal Australians and others living in remote and tropical regions. The Committee was particularly impressed with the leadership of the School and with the "very high quality of the research and the extraordinary breadth of the various programs".

To sustain the breadth and depth of its work, the School has had to create a professional environment that recognises differences in cultures and values. For example, in October 1998, the School signed an historic legal agreement with the Tiwi Health Board to provide a framework for its on-going research partnership with the indigenous people of the Tiwi Islands. The Agreement respects cultural beliefs and gives legal control to the Tiwi people to choose (or not as the case may be) to participate in research on their own terms. The Agreement helps the School to ensure the maximum of ethical and legal protection for the Tiwi people, and provides assurances to researchers that a proposed piece of research, once approved by the Tiwi, will be able to be completed. The Tiwi Health Board has now determined that the Agreement sets the standard for all researchers wishing to work with the Tiwi, not only for those from the Menzies School. Similarly, the Menzies School has accepted that the Tiwi Agreement has codified the principles by which all its research with Aboriginal communities will now be guided.

The Menzies School was also the leader in establishing the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health, now in its second year of operations. Through its Board, with a majority of Aboriginal members, the CRC has developed procedures for planning research projects in accordance with Aboriginal priorities, and subject to stringent academic review. During 1998, the CRC engaged three senior research fellows and seven Aboriginal trainees, with fourteen research projects, and another nine approved as "in kind" projects. Important CRC projects have addressed rheumatic fever prevention, compliance with medication, molecular epidemiology of scabies, ear and other infections, the linkages between health and education for Aboriginal people, and explored how information technology can help improve health in Aboriginal and tropical Australia.

On 6 July 1998, the CRC was officially launched by Dr Michael Wooldridge, Commonwealth Minister for Health, in a ceremony also involving the CRC Chair (Dr Lowitja O'Donoghue), Mr Billy Risk, representing the Larrakeyah people of the Darwin area, Hon Mike Reed, Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, researchers and many other supporters.

Other major activities during 1998 included :

* A program, coordinated by Dr Wendy Hoy in the Renal Unit, showing that early treatment of renal (kidney) disease in Aboriginal people was both feasible and effective in slowing disease progression and reducing the immediate need for dialysis in the patients treated.

* The Molecular Parasitology Unit, under the leadership of Professor David Kemp, FAA, has identified the gene causing cell adherence in malaria; further work may lead to more effective means for the prevention or treatment of severe (cerebral) malaria.

* A DNA-based fingerprinting method has been used by Shelley Walton, David Kemp and others to show that scabies mites infecting Aboriginal people come from different populations than the scabies mites infecting Aboriginal dogs.

* Dr Peter d'Abbs, of the Health and Social Science Unit, has commenced an evaluation of the Katherine West Coordinated Care Trial, which is one of four trials underway in Australia to find more effective and efficient means for providing health care.

* Work on the high rates of ear infection and hearing loss in Aboriginal infants is continuing, with innovative means for visualising the ear-drum using a novel video-otoscope developed by Dr Al Yonowitz at the Menzies School.

* A major study of ear infection and hearing loss in children in Darwin child-care centres was carried out by Dr Sue Skull in partnership with Territory Health Services and the National Centre for Epidemiology and Public Health at ANU.

* Six PhD projects were completed or submitted during the calendar year in areas as diverse as molecular biology of scabies and ear-disease, treatment of ear disease, epidemiology of rheumatic fever and skin infection, and growth of Aboriginal children. Over 20 research students are currently studying for higher degrees by research with the Menzies School.

* More extensive details about all the activities of the Menzies School can be obtained from our Web-site and in the 1997-1998 Annual Report of the School.

The School is especially grateful to all those who have supported it over the years, and to all those who take an interest in and publicise its activities. Particular thanks are due to the Menzies Foundation, the Northern Territory Government, Mr Richard Ryan AO, Chairman, and the Members of the Governing Board and Committees, the NH MRC and other providers of competitive research grants, and private and corporate donors. Above all the School would not have had the success that it has without the commitment, talent and enthusiasm of its staff, and the cooperation and advice of Aboriginal colleagues and friends, research participants, and colleagues in health services and government.