Health :: Alcohol treatment guidelines to help Indigenous Australians

New treatment guidelines would help health practitioners to manage alcohol-related problems experienced by their Indigenous patients, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing, Christopher Pyne, said in Cairns today.

Mr Pyne was announcing the development of the new Alcohol Treatment Guidelines for Indigenous Australians when speaking at the Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs annual conference.

“This resource provides guidance for health professionals who work with Indigenous Australians who are affected by alcohol-related problems. By doing so, the guidelines will reduce the harmful effects of alcohol in Indigenous communities,” Mr Pyne said.

He said the Government had committed more than $820,000 to develop and implement the guidelines to improve the treatment and management of alcohol-related problems.

The resource would be widely promoted over the next few months, through a series of workshops at national conferences and at locations which had taken part in the consultations that had helped to shape the guidelines.

Implementation would include an educational television program, with funding to support broadcasting to medical and health professionals in remote and rural communities via satellite, Mr Pyne said.

“The broadcast has the potential to reach 100,000 medical and health professionals, including doctors, nurses, allied health workers and Aboriginal Health Workers who would not otherwise have an opportunity to undertake timely continuing professional education,” he said.


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