Healthy Skin and Eyes Program

Program Coordinator - Emma Buanach
KWHB Healthy Skin and Eyes Coordinator | P: 08 8971 9300

Active trachoma is endemic in many remote indigenous communities across the Northern Territory. Australia is the only developed nation among the 57 listed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that still has blinding trachoma, with some Indigenous communities experiencing rates higher than those of the third world.


Work in 2010/2011

This year KWHB has been able to have a full time Healthy Skin and Eyes Coordinator, who is now running the program which KWHB developed during 2009/2010. The program involves looking at ways to reduce the number of children that suffer from scabies and trachoma. The Healthy Skin and Eyes Program Coordinator role is also to identify adults that may be suffering of trichasis (eyelashes rubbing on the eye) and to coordinate appropriate surgery in our communities.


TRACHOMA BLITZ
The trachoma blitz has happened in all KWHB communities this year. The trachoma blitz involves screening all school age children for trachoma and adults for trichasis. Whilst screening the children for trachoma it was a great opportunity to look at the skin conditions of the children at the same time. The trachoma blitz in some communities was linked in with the flu vaccination which proved to be very popular and helped take some of the burden of the clinics.

The trachoma blitz involved many workers from Katherine as well as the Community and was a great opportunity to work together. Excitingly the number of people suffering from trachoma has decreased in almost all KWHB communities and the number of children seen by the trachoma team has also increased.

Some of the highlights of the trachoma blitz:

The work on trachoma in KWHB communities was filmed by the Rural Health Education Foundation in June 2011. The segment featured the Bulla community and has being aired on satellite TV. The segment highlights how the trachoma program has been developed with our Ngumbin reference group and how important it is for community to be involved in all aspects of the trachoma program.

A visit from Professor Hugh Taylor and friends to Katherine and Kalkaringi in July 2011 helped to highlight some of the great results of the trachoma program. The visit also helped to raise other concerns faced by our communities and organisation.


GOALS FOR THE COMING YEAR

In the coming year a large focus of my role will be to work on developing a Hygiene program with the Chronic Disease Coordinator and Environmental Health officer. Improvements around hygiene in communities will hopefully see trachoma and scabies along with other diseases eliminated.

The trachoma blitz is planned to continue in early 2012 and a goal is to see the number of people with trachoma an skin conditions continue to decrease as well as raise awareness about the conditions and how to prevent them.

I hope that the Healthy Skin and Eyes program will help to see community members health and quality of life improve.