The health of about half of the world’s Indigenous peoples – 28 populations in 23 countries from the Arctic through to Oceania – have been mapped out in a recent study out of Australia. This global health map includes Indigenous peoples from Africa, Pakistan, India, Nepal, China, Thailand, Myanmar, the Americas, Scandinavia, Circumpolar Russia, Greenland, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand. The study maps such factors as health, education and socioeconomic status of Indigenous populations around the world. The findings suggest that overall, Indigenous populations have poorer health and social outcomes than their non-Indigenous counterparts. However, the researchers point out that there were country-specific aspects where some Indigenous populations actually fared better than others.
Corresponding author:Prof Ian Anderson, PhD, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Other authors include: Alexandra King, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada, Prof Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, PhD,Center of Excellence in Women and Child Health, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan, SickKids Center for Global Child Health, Toronto, Canada,Malcolm King, PhD, CIHR—Institute of Aboriginal Peoples’ Health, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
Original paper published on April 21, 2016 in The Lancet.
