A first-of-its-kind dialysis unit has opened in a remote central Australian town, helping First Nation patients access treatment closer to home. But as a diabetes and kidney disease epidemic worsens in the region, there are urgent calls for a greater focus on preventing the disease and the suffering that comes with it.
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00:00In the remote South Australian town of Coober Pedy, four chairs offering a lifeline and a way forward.
00:09This new dialysis unit, delivered by Aboriginal controlled organisation Purple House,
00:18means First Nations patients like Raylene can access life-saving treatment for kidney disease
00:24while remaining on country and connected to family.
00:27After being forced to move hundreds of kilometres away for treatment three years ago, she's glad to be back.
00:34Happy, really happy. They got the Purple House here. It's good to be home anyway.
00:41But with service providers across Central Australia overwhelmed and unable to keep up with demand,
00:47Raylene is one of the lucky ones.
00:50It's still hard for so many patients today who have to leave country.
00:54They feel lonely, they feel very isolated, they feel like they're losing touch with their family
01:00and they're also feeling like they're losing touch with their country.
01:03The Federal Government has pledged up to 29 additional dialysis units for First Nations people across Australia,
01:11giving them treatment closer to home.
01:14But in the meantime, experts are urging for a greater focus on prevention of this deadly disease.
01:20Preventing people from feeling sick and having shorter lives is really important.
01:29For Raylene, it's bittersweet as she remembers her uncles and aunties who never saw their hope become reality.
01:37They used to ask for this Purple House for years.
01:40Oh, when are you going to get that Purple House in Coober Pedy?
01:43It didn't happen.
01:45Now it's finally happened.
01:47A small step towards addressing an enormous problem.