MeasureUp TO CHANGE THE LIVES OF INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
Press Release
For Immediate Release FEBRUARY 2010
MeasureUp
and the Menzies School of Health Research are taking crucial steps towards understanding the links
between kidney disease and body composition, and to improving health care services in remote communities.
The MeasureUp initiative, boasts Australia’s ONLY commercial mobile Bone Mineral Density Scanner, which will
aid in the important research Menzies is doing in the assessment of kidney function and progression of chronic
kidney disease in Indigenous Australians.
Indigenous people in very remote settings, like Thursday Island, are up to 17 times more likely to suffer ‘end
stage’ kidney disease, than the general Australian population. MeasureUp are working with researchers from
Menzies to address those high rates of disease.
The Clinician behind MeasureUp, Doctor Jarrod Meerkin, is on a mission to provide access to healthcare for all
Indigenous Australians.
Doctor Jarrod Meerkin says: “The Thursday Island project is an exciting opportunity for MeasureUp to showcase
our much needed service to rural and remote Australia and shows its benefits on improving the health of the
general population. We provide services associated with diagnosis of Osteoporosis and Body composition
assessment to areas without easy access to such tools, but in this case we have had the fortune to work on a
much needed research project involving Indigenous Australians. This valuable contribution to indigenous
health research would not have been able to proceed without MeasureUp.”
MeasureUp will assist the Menzies Research Group led by Dr Louise Maple-Brown to improve the health and
well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The project aims to improve
the
accuracy of
reporting of kidney function and detect earlier stages of kidney damage.
Louise Maple-Brown says, “This paves the way for earlier health interventions. If we can improve the accuracy
of tests of early signs of kidney problems, we can treat patients sooner. This project can significantly contribute
to stalling chronic kidney disease, preventing kidney failure, and premature death amongst all communities.”
MeasureUp
offers a unique opportunity for the Indigenous Australian population
on Thursday Island as they
have limited access to services we take for granted, services such as bone mineral density testing and body
composition measurement.
Why MeasureUp can help improve the healthcare for remote Indigenous Australians:
MeasureUp can provide a clinical opportunity to assist with optimal and evidence based care to
remote Indigenous Australians.
By simultaneously measuring body composition in individuals, MeasureUp can accurately measure lean
mass will be more meaningful in the interpretation of kidney function.
-ENDS-
For further information on MeasureUp, including interview opportunities with Doctor Jarrod
Meerkin
please
contact:
Gina Nixon
NAC Group Pty Limited
Email gina@nac-group.com
P + 612 9357 3600 F + 612 9357 3611 M + 61 431 811 817
NEWS 
