A major new Â鶹ֱ²¥-led program will work to make a vital contribution to reverse declining vaccination rates among Aboriginal communities across Western Australia, after being awarded a Stan Perron Charitable Foundation Program grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The three-year Closing the Vaccine Gap <\/em>initiative will aim to better protect pregnant women, babies and adolescents by overcoming vaccine hesitancy in regions representing more than half of WA\u2019s Aboriginal population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The project will cover the Perth metropolitan, Mid-West and Great Southern areas, where hospitalisation rates for vaccine-preventable diseases are nearly three times higher for Aboriginal people in some locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lead researcher and Noongar woman Professor Anne-Marie Eades<\/a>, from the Curtin School of Nursing<\/a>, said the decline in immunisation rates following the COVID-19 pandemic was a serious public health issue, particularly for groups already facing health inequities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVaccinations have prevented more than 150 million deaths worldwide over the past 50 years, yet we’re now seeing four years of falling immunisation rates in Australia,\u201d Professor Eades said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis decline is not the same everywhere – it is significantly worse for Aboriginal people and without change, we risk seeing preventable diseases return and disproportionately harm our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Building on Curtin\u2019s previous Ngarngk Koolangka Moorditj Yarning<\/em> project, the program will work directly with community members, Elders, health workers and families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCo-designing this initiative is absolutely essential,\u201d Professor Eades said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur previous work showed that confidence and vaccine uptake improve when Aboriginal communities lead the process and resources reflect culture, language, lived experience and local priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis program will scale that approach across more regions, with paid community champions embedded in each site.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The new program will focus on pregnant women, babies under two and adolescents – groups for whom delayed or missed vaccinations carry significant risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur goal is to build trust and engagement, which is the most effective way to build confidence, and to ensure better health literacy, stronger relationships with health providers and culturally grounded resources that empower families to make informed decisions,\u201d Professor Eades said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMost importantly, the solutions we develop will be designed by Aboriginal people, for Aboriginal people, to create change that lasts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The project team also includes experts from The University of Western Australia, the Kids Research Institute Australia, Murdoch University, University of Sydney, the Child and Adolescent Health Service, East Metropolitan Health Service and Johns Hopkins University\u2019s Center for Indigenous Health.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A major new Â鶹ֱ²¥-led program will work to make a vital contribution to reverse 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