Doctors working in remote Aboriginal communities have been battling for years to get governments to listen to their warning about pandemics. They argue that the third-world health conditions of indigenous people in these communities makes them extremely vulnerable to new diseases.

It appears the message went largely unheeded until this week, when there was a flurry of teleconferences around the nation. These followed the first deaths in Australia from swine flu the very first victim was an Aboriginal man from a remote community.

The doctors working in these communities have a problem: many Australians now think swine flu is a media beat-up. And who could blame them? When the Federal Government activated its pandemic response, it took unprecedented precautions, including heat sensors at airports.

At the same time it discovered the new disease was milder than anticipated. Usually healthy people got sick, they stayed home from work or school, and most recovered without drugs. Another winter, another flu. Many Australians die every winter from flu or pneumonia, notably residents of nursing homes. Queensland Health Minister Paul Lucas puts the annual national toll at between 1000 and 3000 people. In the United States an estimated 45,000 people die each year from influenza and pneumonia.

Up until a week ago there were no deaths in this country attributed to swine flu. But this is a new disease and spreads quickly among younger people. ''Kids are very effective spreaders of this disease,'' federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon says. She has been warning that this new strain can prove fatal for people with chronic health problems. Asthma, diabetes and obesity have been identified as dangerous factors.

Was anyone listening? The Government was sounding increasingly strident but urban Australians were taking the outbreak in their stride.

Over the past week there was a change, of sorts, with four Australians dying after being diagnosed with the disease. But the impact of that was reduced because all had underlying health conditions. That is, Roxon's prediction was spot on.

The other change this week was that the number of confirmed cases of swine flu in the Northern Territory climbed markedly, to become the highest per capita rate in the nation. Whether this discovery was partly due to more testing in outlying communities is beside the point to medical authorities, who see bad news ahead for indigenous communities.

For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times