To the Editor: We congratulate Schutte and colleagues1 for their call to action for improved management of blood pressure in Australia, highlighting that 68% of people have uncontrolled high blood pressure. The burden of high blood pressure is unevenly distributed, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (hereafter referred to respectfully as Indigenous) people reportedly having a higher rate of high blood pressure than non‐Indigenous Australians in every age group.2 Reducing the prevalence of high blood pressure is one of the most important means of reducing serious circulatory diseases, which are among the leading causes of death for Indigenous Australians.3 Hence, we want to extend the call to action and report on what is happening in primary health care settings with the control of blood pressure for Indigenous people.
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- 1. Schutte AE, Webster R, Jennings G, Schlaich MP. Uncontrolled blood pressure in Australia: a call to action. Med J Aust 2022; 216: 61‐63. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2022/216/2/uncontrolled‐blood‐pressure‐australia‐call‐action
- 2. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework: 2020 summary report [Cat. No. IHPF 2]. https://www.indigenoushpf.gov.au/getattachment/65fbaaf3‐100c‐4df5‐941c‐a8455922693c/2020‐summary‐ihpf‐2.pdf (viewed Feb 2022).
- 3. Walsh WF, Kangaharan N. Cardiac care for Indigenous Australians: practical considerations from a clinical perspective. Med J Aust 2017; 207: 40‐45. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2017/207/1/cardiac‐care‐indigenous‐australians‐practical‐considerations‐clinical
- 4. Matthews V, Connors C, Laycock A, et al. Chronic illness care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: final report — ESP Project: priority evidence‐practice gaps and stakeholder views on barriers and strategies for improvement, April 2015. Menzies School of Health Research, 2015. https://apo.org.au/node/54395 (viewed Feb 2022).
- 5. Bailie J, Laycock A, Matthews V, Bailie R. System‐level action required for wide‐scale improvement in quality of primary health care: synthesis of feedback from an interactive process to promote dissemination and use of aggregated quality of care data. Front Public Health 2016; 4: 86.
The National Health and Medical Research Council funded the ABCD National Research Partnership Project (#545267) and the Centre for Research Excellence in Integrated Quality Improvement (#1078927) and the Centre for Research Excellence in Strengthening Systems for Indigenous Health Care Equity (#1170882). In‐kind and financial support was provided by the Lowitja Institute and a range of community‐controlled and government agencies. The funders had no role in the planning, writing or publication of the work, or for a research paper, any role in study design, data collection, analysis or interpretation, reporting or publication. The development of this manuscript would not have been possible without the active support, enthusiasm and commitment of staff in participating primary health care services, and members of the ABCD National Research Partnership, Centre for Research Excellence in Integrated Quality Improvement, and Centre for Research Excellence in Strengthening Systems for Indigenous Health Care Equity. Veronica Matthews is from the Quandamooka community, North Stradbroke Island, Queensland. Jodie Bailie and Ross Bailie are non‐Indigenous researchers. All authors have a long‐standing commitment to improving health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
No relevant disclosures.