Attempts to reduce the spread of a disease that can kill newborn children have been labelled a "total failure" by an expert medical group.

Key points: A syphilis outbreak has spread from Queensland to three other Australian jurisdictions

A syphilis outbreak has spread from Queensland to three other Australian jurisdictions Attempts to deal with the spread have been woeful, the Australian Medical Association says

Attempts to deal with the spread have been woeful, the Australian Medical Association says A $21.2m "test and treat" model has been rolled out in some outbreak regions

Federal health data shows 896 Indigenous men and women have been infected with syphilis, a sexually transmitted infection, since it spread from north Queensland in 2013, now reaching three states and the Northern Territory.

That includes around 30 new cases in the NT per month — a far higher rate than in other jurisdictions.

Australian Medical Association NT president Robert Parker said the national problem had been met with a lack of federal leadership.

"There's a total failure of the Federal Government to actually control the situation currently," Dr Parker told ABC Radio Darwin.

"The problem is a lot of the sexual health programs have actually been defunded, so all the people you need on the ground are not there any more to educate people on safe-sex practices."

Last week, the Federal Government advised there would be additional funding of $12.4 million to June 2021, on top of $8.8 million committed last year, to curb the syphilis outbreak in northern and central Australia (Qld, WA, NT and SA).

The funds were distributed to Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) in the outbreak regions.

However NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles said it was unwise to only provide funding to Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations.

"These services need to be available wherever the people are, not just communities with ACCHO services," she said.

Sorry, this video has expired Video raising awareness about the dangers of syphilis.

Infection can be fatal for newborns

The current outbreak started in 2011 in the Indigenous community of Doomadgee, on the Gulf of Carpentaria.

People infected with syphilis often develop lesions, rashes and sores across the body.

Syphilis can be deadly for newborn children when contracting the infection from their mother, but unlike in Queensland, there have been no reported deaths in congenital cases in the NT.

"Particularly in the centre of Australia, Aboriginal tribal boundaries, cultural boundaries, don't really relate to the state and territory boundaries currently," Dr Parker said.

"So there's a lot of Aboriginal people travelling through the centre. Which is why this epidemic has spread really quickly.

"There doesn't appear to be any current, effective response to deal with this quite widespread issues of this very serious disease."

$21.2m model rolled out

In a statement, a spokesperson for the federal Health Department described a range of measures being implemented to fight the problem.

The statement said the Commonwealth had set up an "Enhanced Response Unit" to deal with the outbreak.

The department has also committed $21.2 million to roll out of a "test and treat model" through Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services in the outbreak regions.

It said this model rolled out in Townsville, Cairns and Darwin in August 2018.

From October 2018 it was rolled out in East Arnhem Land, as well as to three services in the Katherine Region (NT) and the Kimberley (WA).

Currently, it is considering further rolling out the model to more Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services in the NT, WA and SA to begin early in 2019.

As of November, 73 clinicians in the NT and about 117 nationally had been trained to use the testing kits, and the number of people tested for syphilis is expected "to increase dramatically" in early 2019.

To assist with the outbreak of syphilis in Adelaide, the Federal Government will also fund two fulltime positions for Indigenous health workers there, following a request from the South Australian Government.

However, the federal Health Department said some responsibility also rested with the state and territory governments.

"The agreement of all states and territories to the action plan through the Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council aims to ensure consistency of approach across jurisdictions. It is the primary responsibility of each state and territory to respond to matters of sexual health," the statement said.

The NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles said the Government had maximised resources to provide the best response.