Malpa Project - painting dialysis machines

[natnnnat]

From Radio National, (part of the ABC, Australia's national broadcaster)


Malpa Project
Sunday, 2 May 2010 12:00 AM
Chronic kidney disease is a common and serious problem in Australia. Where it's most common, though, is among Indigenous Australians. In Alice Springs right now there are hundreds of traditional Aboriginal people from communities throughout central Australia who are on, or are about to start, dialysis treatment. One of those is the Western Desert artist Norah Nelson Napaltjarri. Norah's best known for her Milky Way Dreaming paintings—if you've ever been to the Supreme Court in Darwin, there's a mosaic of one of those paintings of hers on the floor there. Norah's been on dialysis for ten years.

As part of something called the Malpa Project, Norah Nelson Napaltjarri organised some other Central Australian Indigenous artists to paint their dreaming stories on dialysis machines. The Malpa Project is run through Transplant Australia, and Don Palmer is the project director and he's speaking to Amanda Smith.


http://www.abc.net.au/rn/artworks/stories/2010/2886851.htm
this is the link if you are interested in listening to the story, it’s the first segment in a three segment show, starts about a minute into the audio.
Note that Radio National moves their stories after about three weeks, with apologies to the moderators....

I was very sad because I knew that there is a very high proportion of the indigenous population on dialysis, but I didn’t realise their chances of receiving a transplant are so low.  In the program Don says that there are only about 200 kidney transplants a year in Australia and most of them are from live donors giving to their loved ones.  And because aborigines are so likely to get CKD, they are unlikely to be approved as kidney donors. 

I also found a PDF about it here http://www.transplant.org.au/IgnitionSuite/uploads/docs/Malpa%20Article.pdf
Which has lovely full colour photos of the painted dialysis machines...
(2009). "Art for Health's sake." PH(Dec 2009): 38-40.

[MooseMom]

Why is the indigenous population so prone to CKD?  Is there a genetic element to this circumstance?  Are they more prone to diabetes and hypertension?  How do you think this compares to the high incidence of CKD/diabetes amongst African-Americans?  More renal anthropology!

[natnnnat]

Risk factors for CKD are highly prevalent among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people (ABS & AIHW 2003). Tobacco smoking, poor nutrition, high blood pressure, alcohol
abuse, obesity, diabetes, and preventable infections are common in many Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander communities and have been associated with kidney impairment in this
population (McDonald & Russ 2003). Results of the 2001 National Health Survey showed
higher rates of diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking and obesity among Indigenous
Australians compared with other Australians (ABS 2001). This, along with their poorer
socioeconomic status and often remote location leading to poor access to health services,
contributes to the increased rates of CKD and other chronic diseases among Indigenous
Australians. In particular it is believed that the high incidence of streptococcal skin and
throat infections among Indigenous Australians contributes to increased risk of
glomerulonephritis (Chadban & Atkins 2005). Low birth weight is also common among
Indigenous Australians, and there is evidence that this may be associated with greater risk
for kidney disease, independent of other risk factors (Hoy et al. 1998).

From
AIHW (2005). Chronic kidney disease in Australia 2005, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, accessed June 6 2010 from http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10137