World’s indigenous groups may risk a 'slow death'

Certain indigenous groups of people could disappear forever if global development targets are not reformed to better include them, say policy analysts.

According to some estimates, indigenous people make up about 6% of the world’s population, in about 5000 separate groupings. However, studies reveal that life expectancy within these groups is considerably lower than in other populations.


Reasons behind this include poor access to health services and higher rates of infectious diseases, diabetes and heart disease, compared with non-indigenous counterparts. For example, in Western Australia, an aboriginal child is three times more likely to die in infancy than a non-aboriginal child