Christine Anu Leads Walk for Diabetes

Tuesday 14th NOVEMBER 2006 - 12 NOON

World Diabetes Day
"Diabetes in the Disadvantaged and Vulnerable"
Singer Christine Anu today will lead the Australian leg of a global walk to mark World Diabetes Day (WDD) which aims to raise awareness of the disease which claims a life every ten seconds.

Christine, a proud Torres Strait Islander, will be joined by delegates at the Diabetes in Indigenous People Forum in Melbourne on the walk along the Yarra River.

The worldwide walk, initiated by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), will see thousands of people across the continents observing World Diabetes Day, which this year is devoted to the disadvantaged and vulnerable who have diabetes.

The Australian walk will commence at 12-15 pm at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre and follow a route that has significance for local Aboriginal people from the Yarra Yarra or Wurundjeri tribe. Walkers will see the sculpture of Bunjil and cross the footbridge constructed in the shape of a Koori fish trap. In Docklands Park walkers will view the metallic circular sculptures that mirror the Unite for Diabetes campaign icon.Christine Anu will be accompanied at the head of the walk by IDF President-elect Professor Martin Silink, the first Australian to head the IDF.

Ms Anu has sounded a warning about the threat diabetes poses to indigenous people. "The facts speak for themselves- diabetes is killing my people. The prevalence of diabetes in some Aboriginal communities may be as high as 30 per cent.

"Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males are over seven times more likely to die from diabetes as the underlying cause than non indigenous males. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females are over 14 times more likely to die from diabetes as the underlying cause than non-indigenous females.

"In Australia the estimated number of indigenous people with type 2 diabetes is four times higher than that of Australians of European decent and 10 times higher in 20 - 25-year olds.

"Indigenous Australians are disadvantaged and vulnerable despite the fact that Australia is a developed country", Ms Anu said.

"The aim of the walk and World Diabetes Day is to remind people that diabetes can strike anyone and is a global health epidemic. The greatest burden is in the developing countries and what is now known is that indigenous people are at a very high risk of developing diabetes. We need to work together with indigenous leaders and communities to identify the programs that work and ensure they are successfully implemented," she concluded.

Christine Anu is a leading Australian singer, dancer and actor whose signature song "My Island Home" has become an Australian anthem. Australian indigenous people look to her as a warrior and a sign of hope.