“Up to 91 per cent of Aboriginal children have deafness for more than three months of the year, and 100 per cent have an ear infection under the age of three months. -The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS)
A higher priority needs to be placed on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ear Health according to Ear Nose and Throat Surgeons.
President of the Australian Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Dr. Chris Perry, says the goodwill of ear nose and throat surgeons should be utilised when it comes to treating Aboriginal patients.
He believes that they are facing roadblocks when trying to coordinate access to communities to offer advice and potentially surgery. He says Otitis media, or middle ear infections, are not a normal part of childhood - yet we see extraordinarily high rates of hearing loss from this condition.
Dr. Perry is the founder of the awarded Deadly Ears program for Indigenous health and believes the Queensland-based program tackling the issue of hearing loss in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities should expand nationally.
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) reported that one-quarter of Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory and more than one third in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands, in the remote north west of South Australia and Northern Territory have eardrum perforations from chronic ear infections.”
