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Monday, 7 December 2009

An endemic health condition, scabies, affects up to 70 per cent of pre-school aged children in remote Indigenous communities and is the subject of a new children's picture book to be launched at Cable Beach Primary School on December 14.

The book was developed by Courtney Hodder, a health science student from The University of Western Australia.

Courtney worked with WoundsWest as part of her final year industry practicum to develop the illustrated book and an interactive CD for children aged five to eight years that simplifies the lifecycle, signs and symptoms, spread, management and prevention of scabies.

Scabies is a serious public health problem that is transmitted by direct contact with infected persons and clothing.  It is found in endemic proportions in many remote Indigenous communities with a prevalence rate of up to 50 per cent in children and 25 per cent in adults.  Crusted scabies, a rare infestation by Sarcoptes scabiei, has a 50 per cent mortality rate at five years.

Courtney Hodder said she chose the project because she thought it could make a difference by stopping the cycle of scabies in remote communities.

"The Boab Tree was chosen as one of the central characters of the children's book because of it's uniqueness to the Kimberley Region.  Likewise, football was chosen because of its popularity.  We thought children would relate well to these themes," she said.

The project was initiated by WoundsWest, a collaborative partnership between WA Health, Curtin University and Silver Chain which aims to improve wound assessment, prevention and management across Western Australia.

WoundsWest Education Project Officer Juliet Keaton said the overall aim of the book is to improve the quality of life in Indigenous communities.  "It is hoped over time the effect of the book will be to reduce the stigma of scabies by educating kids to recognise that they have scabies and how simple it is to be free of scabies," she said.

The book has been illustrated by Cable Beach Primary School students and the characters on the interactive CD have been voiced by members of the year two class.  David Wirrpanda, who has written the book foreword, acknowledges scabies as a condition that can lead to long-term illness, which affects a person for life. Communities, he says, need to work together to get rid of scabies.

The book and CD is to be distributed to all primary schools in the Kimberley.  The interactive CD is expected to be available for download from the WoundsWest website in the new year.

Media references

Courtney Hodder  (+61 4) 23 121 427
Juliet Keaton, (WoundsWest Education Project Officer)  (+61 4) 11 854 835
Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 5563  /  (+61 4) 32 637 716

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