It is now almost a year since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made his apology to the Australia's ''Stolen Generations'' and committed himself to work with indigenous communities to ''close the gap'' on indigenous disadvantage and life expectancy within a generation.

Delivering on this commitment will demand strong national leadership, a huge increase in current resources and a long-term focus on the goals and targets. Delivering better education, ensuring more employment opportunities and tackling the causes of kidney failure, diabetes, low-birthweight babies and youth suicide will not be easy and will require a raft of multifaceted interventions.

So it is unacceptable that children living in remote indigenous communities continue to suffer from trachoma, an infectious disease now found only in the poorest countries and that, untreated, leads to blindness. It is our shame that Australia is the only developed country among the 57 trachoma-endemic countries listed by the World Health Organisation.

This situation is particularly unacceptable given two facts: trachoma is as common in these children as it was 30 years ago when Fred Hollows and his colleagues began a campaign to eradicate the disease; and eliminating trachoma is a relatively inexpensive and straightforward exercise which would cost about $25 million over the next five years.

Trachoma was eliminated from the non-indigenous population in northern Australia during the 1930s. It continues to be a threat to the indigenous communities in the remote desert areas of northern Australia because of their poor living conditions, poverty and lack of access to water.

But even under these conditions the treatment strategy for the infection known as the SAFE strategy (Surgery when needed for trichiasis; Antibiotic treatment; Facial cleanliness; and Environmental improvement) can be delivered at minimal cost.

The inescapable conclusion is that this appalling inequality exists because of government neglect dating back decades.

Australia's trachoma control efforts have been patchy and inconsistent since the National Trachoma and Eye Health Program ended in 1978. Results published late last year from the first large-scale study carried out since the program's closure highlight the continuing deplorable standards of eye health in trachoma-endemic areas of the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia.

The study found the overall rate of active and infectious trachoma in children under 10 years of age in screened communities was nearly 20per cent, well above the 10 per cent level at which the disease is deemed endemic.

The prevalence of corneal scarring in people aged 20 years and over was 32per cent, with the youngest person to bear scars derived from the active stage of the disease being just seven years old.

More than 2 per cent of adults aged 40 and over were identified with trichiasis (ingrown eyelashes) requiring urgent ophthalmological attention to prevent the onset of blindness.

More recent data highlight the facts that: only 65 per cent of communities with active trachoma are receiving antibiotic treatment; routine screening and reporting of the disease need to be strengthened; and adherence to the national treatment guidelines is very low.

Increased resources from the Northern Territory Emergency Response has not improved prevention, treatment or reporting in the territory.

In tackling the big task of ''closing the gap'', it makes no sense for Australian governments to ignore those areas where we know a funded national action plan will make a real difference in a very short time.

Nations such as Morocco and Oman have been able to eliminate trachoma within 10 years, an achievement that is surely within Australia's abilities.

Last year the Australian Government provided $45 million over two years and a commitment to confront eye health and vision in the poor countries of the Pacific region, so why can't we make this commitment to Australia's first people?

Endemic trachoma in indigenous children represents a national tragedy and a national shame.

That tragedy and shame can be eliminated by an investment amounting to just $1 for every Australian. We can all afford that.

Lesley Russell is the Menzies Foundation Fellow at the Menzies Centre for Health Policy, University of Sydney/Australian National University.