"The digital divide: a profound public health issue that needs work" is a recent article in the Croakey health issues blog. Don Perlgut, CEO of the Rural Health Education Foundation, is concerned that with the introduction of the National Broadband Network, over 3 million Australians will be disadvantaged by their lack of information technology skills in regards to public health. "If you are poor, Indigenous, old or disabled and live in outer regional/remote areas of Australia, your chances of being “online ready” are pretty low. And who are the people who will most need the chronic disease monitoring systems the Government is starting to put in place? The poor, the elderly, the disabled and the residents of outer regional and remote Australia.
The Croakey blog is a forum for debate and discussion about health issues and policy. It is moderated by journalist Melissa Sweet, with regular contributions from a panel of medical experts. It is related to the online social commentary publication, crikey.com.
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