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Speaker 1: Now we know that yesterday the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance

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Speaker 1: am SANT has called on the Northern Territory government to

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Speaker 1: adopt a ninety to ninety five percent aboriginal vaccination rate

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Speaker 1: threshold before opening the Northern Territories borders. And the CEO

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Speaker 1: of AMSAN, John Patterson, joins me on the line right now.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, John, had a very good morning to you, Katie.

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Speaker 1: John. Why has AMSANK gone down this path of calling

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Speaker 1: for ninety to ninety five percent aboriginal vaccination rate before

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Speaker 1: we open those borders.

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Speaker 2: Katie, if we work off the eighty percent which is

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Speaker 2: being considered in other you know, in the government space

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Speaker 2: and others saying that you know that they're comfortable with

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Speaker 2: eighty percent to look at, you know, opening up the

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Speaker 2: borders and allowing a bit more movement back in the community.

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Speaker 2: And I've taken lockbounds out of out of place. We

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Speaker 2: believe that I'll only you know, impact about fifty five

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Speaker 2: percent of our population. So it's while we've increased the

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Speaker 2: rate to ninety ninety five percent, we've got a you know,

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Speaker 2: another fact that we've got a very young population of

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Speaker 2: the indigenous population here in the Northern territory. So to

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Speaker 2: ensure that we get as wide vaccination coverage as we

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Speaker 2: possibly can, to keep our communities safe, to ensure that

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Speaker 2: our families are safe, our most vulnerable population in the

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory, we've got to take the higher threshold ninety

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Speaker 2: to ninety five percent, and others have been calling for

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Speaker 2: one hundred and ninety nine point nine. I think I

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Speaker 2: came out with ninety nine point nine previously. But look,

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Speaker 2: we the members of our and the health leadership that

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Speaker 2: met for the last two and half days came to

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Speaker 2: the decision that'd be comfortable with ninety to ninety five percent.

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Speaker 3: John, do you say think we can get there? O, Katie,

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Speaker 3: Look that that's you know, I can't tell you, you know,

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Speaker 3: but we've had to come up with a goal.

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Speaker 2: We had to come up with a percentage, and you know,

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Speaker 2: we're going to throw everything at this for the for

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Speaker 2: the coming weeks. I've just amount of meeting where we're

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Speaker 2: starting to plan, you know, in some regional areas throughout

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Speaker 2: the Northern Territory, putting in some plans about how we

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Speaker 2: might you know, get the vaccination rates up. But we've

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Speaker 2: got to aim high, Katie. We can't aim anything less

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Speaker 2: there's deadly virus of the Delta strain of coronavirus gets

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Speaker 2: you in the Northern Territory, it would come very very

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Speaker 2: close to wiping out some of our communities. I'm sorry

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Speaker 2: to say, you know, I've got to be frank, I've

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Speaker 2: got to be honest with people. I have a look

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Speaker 2: over the border of the western New South Wales. You

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Speaker 2: know they're heavily populated, Indigenous populated communities there being heavily

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Speaker 2: impacted at the moment, forty people in one family. That's terrible,

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Speaker 2: just imagining that getting in the community and just it'll

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Speaker 2: just have a detrimental impact. Kadian, We as the health leadership,

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Speaker 2: where as the Aboriginal community control providers here in the

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory, along with the Northern Territory government run clinics

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Speaker 2: and some of our communities around the territory, are going

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Speaker 2: to commit ourselves to, you know, giving thro everything that

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Speaker 2: we possibly can at getting those vaccination numbers up. If

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Speaker 2: we reach ninety percent eighty nine point nine, I'd be happy.

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Speaker 2: But that's our goal, that's our aim. We're going to

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Speaker 2: have a good crack at it.

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Speaker 1: John, are you concerned that if we don't get to

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Speaker 1: that point and we do open the borders that our

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Speaker 1: health system is not going to be able to cope.

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Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, that's certainly a concern of our members, Katie.

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Speaker 2: We already understand and that's out there in the media

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Speaker 2: that you know, the Royal Darn Hospital is coated yellow.

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Speaker 2: I think they coded having to seriously consider about you know,

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Speaker 2: elect of surgery. So there's enormous train as I understand.

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Speaker 2: I heard the president from the Northern Territory am A,

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Speaker 2: doctor Rob Parker, this morning speaking about it. So that's

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Speaker 2: a major concern of the AMSTAND members if we if

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Speaker 2: we if the delta variant, you know, it gets into

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Speaker 2: our territory communities, the question is will the health system

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Speaker 2: cope with it, And we don't think it will. If

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Speaker 2: it if it's spread, you know, will understand that this

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Speaker 2: variant is pretty fast at spreading, transmissible amongst individuals and people.

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Speaker 2: And yeah, we're not we are not convinced that we

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Speaker 2: have the system to cope with it.

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Speaker 1: John, do you think that realistically, if we're going to

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Speaker 1: try and him for something like ninety or ninety five percent,

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Speaker 1: that we need to have a bit more transparency with

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Speaker 1: these numbers.

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Speaker 2: Katie, let me make it clear to the listeners. We

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Speaker 2: totally agree that we need the data collection. We're happy

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Speaker 2: to release publicly the regional data and we're going to

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Speaker 2: work off the Northern Territory government. So I think they've

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Speaker 2: got five regions Darwin, Arnham, Big Rivers, Berkley and Central

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Speaker 2: Australia happy to make those figures aggregated figures available to

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Speaker 2: the public. Happy. Also, what we want to do in

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Speaker 2: the in release from that data, we want to break

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Speaker 2: up like Tenner Creek and the surrounding, you know, So

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Speaker 2: we want to separate Tennan Creek from Tenner Creek community

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Speaker 2: town to the Barkley Remote. So we've got a good

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Speaker 2: eye and a good understanding of how you know, the

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Speaker 2: vaccinations are and rates are going in Tenner Creek and

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Speaker 2: immediate surroundings as opposed to the Barkley Remote. Those remote communities,

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Speaker 2: you know, matter in that Barkley region. The absent members

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Speaker 2: are totally opposed to making individual community data available to

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Speaker 2: the public. That now I'm saying that, Katie, let me clarify.

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Speaker 2: Let me clarify in saying that we will still have

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Speaker 2: access to individual community data for senior decision makers in

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Speaker 2: the territory of comwealth and the average community control sector,

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Speaker 2: so we can jointly plan, jointly strategized about the best

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Speaker 2: way of getting those vaccinations greatees up if there's communities

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Speaker 2: that are up to the art, up to the expectation

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Speaker 2: that we want them to be out So.

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Speaker 1: John, did is it the case that Amsan did pass

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Speaker 1: emotion not to release that data on those vaccination rates

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Speaker 1: for remote communities?

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Speaker 2: Yes, the individual community ones I'm talking about, and they

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Speaker 2: don't want that to be public information that's available to

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Speaker 2: the Like I said to the senior officials within the

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Speaker 2: relevant you know, governments and the original community control sector,

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Speaker 2: Actually we don't think, you know, what what are we

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Speaker 2: going to gain? Okatie, I'll put it the question I wanted.

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Speaker 2: What are we going to gain by you know, saying,

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Speaker 2: oh what I is doing better than you know, Maningreda

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Speaker 2: man and Greda is doing better than you in the move.

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Speaker 2: I mean, we just don't see, you know, whether that's

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Speaker 2: going to achieve the outcome that we're all wanting. Our

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Speaker 2: main goal should be is to vaccinate ninety ninety percent

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Speaker 2: of the indigenous population. Well, you know perfectly, the entire

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Speaker 2: Northern serfiction should be the game. That's where the argument,

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Speaker 2: that's where the effort needs to be put. Not having

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Speaker 2: a little public argument about oh, you know, up to

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Speaker 2: that scratch and up to the expectation. You know, it's

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Speaker 2: just wasting my time. And if I don't want to

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Speaker 2: be entertained in those sorts of discussions, I want to

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Speaker 2: talk about strategies and plans. How are we going to increase.

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Speaker 1: It that you know those numbers well, absolutely, and I

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Speaker 1: reckon that everybody is in that at that point at

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Speaker 1: the moment where you know, I guess on the other

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Speaker 1: side of the fence, we've got industry leaders who are

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Speaker 1: saying we need a really firm plan in terms of

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Speaker 1: opening up the territory. You know, we've got health professionals

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Speaker 1: like yourself who are saying that we need to make

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Speaker 1: sure that everybody is vaccinated. I guess the big question

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Speaker 1: at the moment, John, is how do we get those

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Speaker 1: people who are really against getting vaccinated, or who are

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Speaker 1: really scared or hesitant. How do we get them there?

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Speaker 1: Because if am saying and if we have got you know,

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Speaker 1: if we've got the likes of you, a very well

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Speaker 1: respected person in the community, saying we want to get

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Speaker 1: to ninety five percent. How do we get there when

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Speaker 1: we've still got such hesitancy at the moment.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, good question, had a good question. And look I've

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Speaker 2: been mulling over this since our meeting clothes yesterday afternoon.

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Speaker 2: And look what it's going to require. And we've made

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Speaker 2: it publicly known that it's going to require particularly come

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Speaker 2: off lord or government and the average and community control

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Speaker 2: health sector to be working in tandem working. You know,

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Speaker 2: the partnership could not be more stronger and strengthened than

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Speaker 2: right now. We've got a window of opportunity here to

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Speaker 2: get out join forces, join you, join up. Our clinicians

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Speaker 2: work with other key stakeholders that have relevant resources. And

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Speaker 2: I'm talking about you know, we're talking about funding. We

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Speaker 2: need an injection of funding to enable that we've got

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Speaker 2: capacity to employee local community elders, interpreters, you know, young people,

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Speaker 2: old people that you know that have known or very

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Speaker 2: influential in their respective communities for six to eight week period.

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Speaker 2: We need to ensure that we've got the perfect messaging

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Speaker 2: in their perfect language. We need to ensure, you know,

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Speaker 2: there's incentives. We now need to have a serious discussion

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Speaker 2: around financial and non financial incentives and that sort of

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Speaker 2: takes to get the numbers up. So okay, there's a

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Speaker 2: number of aspects and strategies that we need to now

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Speaker 2: put together. And like I said, I've just worked on

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Speaker 2: a plan for central particular region in Central Australia that

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Speaker 2: we're going to try and cost out and put the

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Speaker 2: government for funding, because we've got to give it our

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Speaker 2: best shot, Caddie, best shot. We can't sit. I'm not

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Speaker 2: prepared to sit on my hands and hope this thing

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Speaker 2: don't come into the territory. A matter of this thing coming,

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Speaker 2: it's going to come here. This Welter strain is unpredictable,

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Speaker 2: it's badly and it's a very very serious virus you

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Speaker 2: know that will have a huge detrimental impact on our

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Speaker 2: most vulnerable population here. With all the underlying chronic illnesses

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Speaker 2: that our mob suffer. I'm one of them. I'm on

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Speaker 2: five tablet today at the moment. I'm a chronic chronic

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Speaker 2: illness patient in a person. So I've got to be

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Speaker 2: careful double I'm fully vaccinated there please and pray to

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Speaker 2: say that. So it just gives me a little bit

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Speaker 2: of self confidence to move about the community, you know, Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I agree. I have a serious discussion about it. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: there's the restrictions for people who are vaccinated, and I'm vaccinated.

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Speaker 2: You know, there's going to come a time. We're starting

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Speaker 2: to hear it already, you know, different sectors and industry

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Speaker 2: groups that are saying, well, if you're not fully vaccinated,

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Speaker 2: sorry guys not welcome. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Well, John, look, I'm I'm keen to keep in contact

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Speaker 1: with you as we do anyway, but to hear how

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Speaker 1: things are progressing. I always appreciate your time and really

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Speaker 1: good to speak with you this.

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Speaker 2: Morning, Johnny Kat and thanks for the opportunity.

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Speaker 1: To you too, Mate. A great weekend, Thanks Paddo, and

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Speaker 1: thank you