News

Media Release

From: Menzies School of Health Research

Publicly released: Mon 19 Feb 2018 at 1445 AEDT | 1645 NZDT

HOT NORTH, a four-year National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funded research program led by Menzies School of Health Research (Menzies), is hosting a teaching workshop in Katherine, Northern Territory from 20-21 February 2018.

In addition to conducting research, HOT NORTH annually hosts a series of three regional teaching workshops across northern Australia.

The Katherine workshop will include talks from local health professionals and HOT NORTH researchers and cover regionally important health concerns such as antimicrobial resistance, diabetes in pregnancy and youth, rheumatic heart disease, and scabies and skin health.

The event will bring approximately 100 health professionals together from local health services, such as Katherine Hospital, Wurli-Wurlinjang, Katherine West and Sunrise Health Services, and researchers from as far away as Melbourne and Perth.

The Katherine teaching workshop will give HOT NORTH researchers and Katherine health professionals the opportunity to strengthen relationships and facilitate learning experiences that develop and transform health practices across northern Australia.

“By developing a community of medical researchers and clinicians, HOT NORTH is connecting a wide range of experts to address the current and future challenges facing the tropical north,” said HOT NORTH Director, Professor Bart Currie.

With 33 researchers and projects funded to date, HOT NORTH-supported research is investigating a wide range of health issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in northern Australia. As one of the top Aboriginal health providers in the country, Katherine Hospital plays an important role in helping to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health outcomes.

“More and more young people are developing type 2 diabetes. We are seeing 15, 14, 13-year-olds developing type 2 diabetes and then they've got kidney impairment by the time they're 25 or 26 and they are on dialysis in their early to mid-30s. In addition, the Katherine region has the highest rates of homelessness and the highest mortality rate of any region in Australia,” said Head Physician at Katherine Hospital, Dr Simon Quilty.

“We felt it was important to collaborate with our colleagues in Katherine because many of the health problems they are seeing in their Indigenous populations are the same problems affecting Indigenous people across the north of Australia and beyond. Katherine Hospital has made some impressive improvements in how they care for Indigenous people and that’s something that we as researchers and health professionals can learn and benefit from,” said Prof Currie.

Katherine Hospital and the health clinics servicing Katherine have made significant progress over the past number of years. It now ranks as one the top hospitals in Australia for its relationship with its Indigenous patients.

“It’s the transfer of research and practical experience into better service delivery that will help us close the gap across the north and protect the north from tropical and emerging diseases,” added Prof Currie.

Based at Menzies, HOT NORTH utilises a strong collaborative approach between researchers and community, drawing on the expertise of research professionals from eight of Australia’s leading research organisations:

• Menzies School of Health Research
• James Cook University
• Telethon Kids Institute
• Marie Bashir Institute & The University of Sydney
• Doherty Institute & The University of Melbourne
• South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute
• QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute
• Burnet Institute

To read more about HOT NORTH visit www.menzies.edu.au/HOTNORTH