{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]],"date-time":"2026-04-27T14:50:16Z","timestamp":1777301416844,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":16,"publisher":"CSIRO Publishing","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]],"date-time":"2026-04-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777248000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,25]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objectives and importance of study<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study aimed to document trends in lead screening rates and blood lead levels among children residing in Broken Hill aged &amp;lt;5\u00a0years at an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation since beginning screening in 2011.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This was a repeat cross-sectional descriptive analysis of lead screening program data. Data were extracted from the New South Wales Health lead database for all blood lead screening tests among children residing in Broken Hill aged 5\u201359\u00a0months undertaken by Maari Ma Health Aboriginal Corporation, 2011\u20132022. Key outcomes were annual screening coverage, age-standardised annual geometric mean blood lead levels and categorical distribution of blood lead levels.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The number of Indigenous children aged 1 to &amp;lt;5\u00a0years screened annually increased from 58 in 2010 to 171 in 2012. Average lead screening coverage in children aged &amp;lt;5\u00a0years in 2012\u20132020 was 78% (range 71\u201382%). In 2021\u20132022 during the COVID pandemic, screening coverage declined to 50%. Average lead levels in children screened at Maari Ma have remained unchanged over the past 10\u00a0years. Over 70% of these children record a blood lead level over the current National Health and Medical Research Council level of concern of 5\u00a0\u03bcg\/dL.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Screening of Indigenous children increased substantially following Maari Ma\u2019s involvement in the lead screening program. We suggest this reflects the effectiveness of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation involvement in mainstream program delivery to improve engagement with Indigenous communities. Despite high lead screening coverage and a AU$13\u00a0million state government investment to address elevated blood lead levels in Broken Hill since 2015, the majority of Indigenous children residing in Broken Hill continue to record a blood lead level above the National Health and Medical Research Council level of concern, and average blood lead levels in this population remained unchanged over the past 10\u00a0years. This suggests that current measures are not working for this population, with the lack of lead-safe housing for Indigenous families being the key driver. More comprehensive strategies specifically targeting Indigenous children are required to close the gap in the disproportionate burden of lead in Broken Hill.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1071\/pu25022","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]],"date-time":"2026-04-27T14:02:53Z","timestamp":1777298573000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Evaluation of a lead screening program in children aged younger than 5\u00a0years at an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation in New South Wales, Australia"],"prefix":"10.1071","volume":"36","author":[{"given":"Adelaide","family":"Morgan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"AMaari Ma Health Aboriginal Corporation, Broken Hill, NSW 2880, Australia."}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-0682-4421","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Garth","family":"Alperstein","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"AMaari Ma Health Aboriginal Corporation, Broken Hill, NSW 2880, Australia."}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hugh","family":"Burke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"AMaari Ma Health Aboriginal Corporation, Broken Hill, NSW 2880, Australia."}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Richard","family":"Weston","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"AMaari Ma Health Aboriginal Corporation, Broken Hill, NSW 2880, Australia."}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lavinia","family":"Henderson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"AMaari Ma Health Aboriginal Corporation, Broken Hill, NSW 2880, Australia."}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Cath","family":"Kennedy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"AMaari Ma Health Aboriginal Corporation, Broken Hill, NSW 2880, Australia."}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"67","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026042710024707600_R1"},{"issue":"43","key":"2026042710024707600_R2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1509","DOI":"10.15585\/mmwr.mm7043a4","article-title":"Update of the Blood Lead Reference Value - United States, 2021.","volume":"70","author":"Ruckart","year":"2021","journal-title":"MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep"},{"key":"2026042710024707600_R3"},{"key":"2026042710024707600_R4"},{"issue":"11\u201312","key":"2026042710024707600_R5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"234","DOI":"10.1071\/NB11056","article-title":"Improving participation by Aboriginal children in blood lead screening services in Broken Hill, NSW.","volume":"23","author":"Thomas","year":"2013","journal-title":"NSW Public Health Bull"},{"key":"2026042710024707600_R6"},{"key":"2026042710024707600_R7"},{"key":"2026042710024707600_R8"},{"key":"2026042710024707600_R9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s13690-015-0111-y","article-title":"Effectiveness of introducing point of care capillary testing and linking screening with routine appointments for increasing blood lead screening rates of young children: a before-after study.","volume":"73","author":"Boreland","year":"2015","journal-title":"Arch Public Health"},{"key":"2026042710024707600_R10"},{"key":"2026042710024707600_R11"},{"key":"2026042710024707600_R12"},{"issue":"2","key":"2026042710024707600_R13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"202","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2009.10.013","article-title":"Evaluation of home lead remediation in an Australian mining community.","volume":"408","author":"Boreland","year":"2009","journal-title":"Sci Total Environ"},{"issue":"10","key":"2026042710024707600_R14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/14651858.cd006047.pub6","article-title":"Household interventions for secondary prevention of domestic lead exposure in children","volume":"2020","author":"Nussbaumer-Streit","year":"2020","journal-title":"Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews"},{"key":"2026042710024707600_R15"},{"key":"2026042710024707600_R16"}],"container-title":["Public Health Research and Practice"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/connectsci.au\/pu\/article-pdf\/doi\/10.1071\/PU25022\/1863103\/pu25022.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/connectsci.au\/pu\/article-pdf\/doi\/10.1071\/PU25022\/1863103\/pu25022.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]],"date-time":"2026-04-27T14:02:54Z","timestamp":1777298574000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/connectsci.au\/pu\/article\/36\/2\/PU25022\/272447\/Evaluation-of-a-lead-screening-program-in-children"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,28]]},"references-count":16,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,25]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1071\/pu25022","relation":{},"ISSN":["2204-2091"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2204-2091","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,28]]},"article-number":"PU25022"}}