Indigenous people from across Sunraysia attended the Mildura Aboriginal Health Community centre’s launch.

The centre will take a cultural approach to Aboriginal care to help reduce the 17-year life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.

Mildura Aboriginal Health Service practice manager, Lauris McCormack, said the centre would attract Aboriginal people to access services they otherwise wouldn’t.

“It’s just giving the indigenous community a place where they can come and get involved in the programs like cardiac rehabilitation, cooking, men’s and women’s health,”

“We’ve got a specialised maternal health nurse who concentrates on health checks so we can get their full medical history because if its in the family history you can pretty much guarantee that will happen to you,” she said.

For more of this story, purchase your copy of Saturday’s Sunraysia Daily 04/07/2009.