The Wire

Practitioners have defended the role of Aboriginal healers, who are being employed in the Ceduna District Health Service in South Australia to provide consultation and spiritual guidance to cleanse the hospital of bad spirits. The worth of the project had been questioned by the mainstream media, in a report The Australian newspaper that dubbed the scheme a waste of taxpayers money. But doctors working with aboriginal people say traditional healers are an important part of the aboriginal concept of health and that they could have positive influence at hospitals, encouraging aboriginal people to access health services more comfortably. And the Australian Medical Association agrees it could be a benefit.