Turning a deaf ear to hearing losses in Aboriginal peoples - very little is being done

Gerry Georgatos
For several decades it has been known that Aboriginal children are more likely to suffer hearing loss than non-Aboriginal children and it is now a crisis with more neglect from governments the only response say rights advocates and various professionals.

Broome-based Niyikina rights advocate, and economist, Sofia Mirniyinna said, "The governments have known for decades and done close to zero for decades, other than some basic medical checks by mobile health clinics. However a couple of years ago it was made out it was news to most that our Aboriginal children in the NT and WA's top end had major hearing losses. And it got a mention at a Senate committee but still nothing of substance has been done and our people remain trapped in neglect," said Ms Mirniyinna.

"Australia has known since the great doctor Archie Kalokerinos in the seventies who treated eye diseases among our people of the hearing losses, amongst other ailments. He was telling the establishment then about the hearing losses and other problems but they did not want to listen."

However the crisis is state wide and not confined to the remote. WA's Telethon Speech and Hearing Centre confirmed the crisis in WA, of the prevalence of middle ear diseases in Aboriginal children. Their research tragically describes more than 50 per cent of Aboriginal children under the age of 12 tested in Perth cannot pass a simple hearing test.

The crisis of every second Aboriginal child in Perth with severe hearing loss is outstripped in its extensiveness by the numbers in the remote and regional areas. In the WA town of Roebourne, more than 80% of Aboriginal children could not pass the test and had middle ear diseases.

The Telethon's Speech and Hearing Centre spokesman Paul Higginbotham said poor living conditions, genetics, passive smoking and poor nutrition contribute to the problem. "It's a health disaster and it must be addressed."

"You cannot solve the problems of disadvantage in Aboriginal Australia without tackling this issue of ear health," he said.

Roebourne's Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation chief executive officer, Michael Woodley said, "Our people are always neglected. Where are the basic services for us that others enjoy? The Pilbara, where Roebourne is located, is one of Australia's richest mining regions. We have Fortescue Metals Group here, Andrew Forrest, and while they expand their projects in our heartlands and reap wealth, where is the investment in our peoples' health?"

Gumala Aboriginal Corporation is Australia's 7th wealthiest Indigenous corporation in Australia, and is also in the Pilbara with agreements with Rio Tinto however aside their investments in mobile health clinics overall they appear moderate and more needs to be done.

The National Indigenous Times has contacted state minister for health Dr Kim Hames with questions. The state government boasts a $22 million investment in Aboriginal rural and regional health in particular to upgrade remote Aboriginal health clinics over the next year.

"Peanuts - this addresses little. We need radical investments in all aspects of health care, primary and secondary, and in access to health care and treatments, and soon, but they won't do that sort of spend because as you see right now they're cutting vitals from the budget, both the state and commonwealth, they're after surpluses and not about people, and especially not about Aboriginal peoples," said Ms Mirniyinna.

"It cannot be solved in a bandaid way. We as a state can solve the problem but we need a strategic, holistic approach to it," said Mr Higginbotham.

"Don't hold your breath that the state will put our people first before anything else, all they know is to build more prisons for us," said Ms Mirniyinna.

Mr Higginbotham said, "We need to expect and demand change within a generation, we can do it." He is meeting with parliamentarians and is calling for more funding for better programs to tackle the program.

In late 2010, audiometrist Anne O'Leary found the town of Northam, population 7,000, just one hour's driving north east of Perth, endemic with middle ear diseases, rampant among Aboriginal children. She turned up with her mobile health clinic. Middle ear infections, known as 'glue ear' or otitis media, often brought on by a simple cold, if left unchecked can result in fluid behind the eardrum, torn or scarred and infect. All these conditions result in some level of deafness, and can become permanent.

A 2009 Senate inquiry found that Aboriginal children are up to ten times more likely to suffer otitis media related hearing loss. The inquiry heard that Aboriginal children suffer the highest rates of ear disease and hearing loss of any people in the world. This tragedy continues.

A 2010 survey of 29 NT communities found only seven per cent of Aboriginal children had healthy middle ears. Late last year another survey found the majority of the NT's Aboriginal prison population, which comprises 84% of their total prison population, had severe hearing loss or were effectively deaf and many had gone before the courts without being able to hear what was being said.

"Not only do most of us not have an equal chance at the beginning of life but things just don't get better along life's journey - how can the governments, federal and state, face Aboriginal peoples and say well now that we do know for sure what the problems are why haven't we done anything still?" said Ms Mirniyinna.

WA Corrective Services Department's Dr Cherelle Fitzclarence said, "I've worked in Aboriginal health for a long time, and ear problems are a significant issue. Screening has highlighted that perhaps we should be doing across the board screening of everyone who comes in, which we're not doing at this point."

In WA Aboriginal folk are incarcerated at 25 times the rate of non-Aboriginal folk.

WA is Australia's richest state, per capita per head of population, however even in Perth 5 out of 10 Aboriginal children cannot pass a hearing screening. At one all-Aboriginal primary school in Perth, Moorditj Noongar Community College, the failure rate three years ago was 75% - this has improved because of the proactivity of community and parents to address hearing loss, however Mr Woodley, Ms Mirniyinna and Mr Higginbotham argue that there needs to be adequate state and federal funding of various programs to wholly address the problem and in turn eliminate the negative impacts.

And more than 40 years later maybe the words of the late Dr Kalokerinos will be heard, "Something needs to be done soon."

LINKS:

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/hearing-loss-hits-nt-indigenous-inmate...
NINE out of 10 Aboriginal inmates in Northern Territory jails suffer significant hearing loss, according to a study focusing on an insidious but little-known impediment facing indigenous people in the criminal justice system.

http://www.humanrights.gov.au/about/media/media_releases/2010/47_10.html
Senate report: ‘Hear us’ - Now we need action
Commissioner Innes and Commissioner Gooda have welcomed ‘Hear us’, the report of the Inquiry into Hearing Health by the Senate Community Affairs Committee, released today, for its focus on both Indigenous hearing health and employment opportunities for hearing-impaired Australians.

http://njca.anu.edu.au/Indigenous%20Justice%20Committee/Papers/Links/Cri...

http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/about/news/687

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-15/major-hearing-problems-among-indig...

http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/about/news/145
Senate Committee releases report into Hearing Health

http://healthbulletin.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/bulletin_review_...
Conclusion - Clearly health policies devised by governments are not working fast enough. The ‘gap’ has not been closed. The ‘gap’, a simplistic
concept, actually represents lost lives, pain and suffering, and frustrated opportunities. The high prevalence of otitis media is a devastating example of this. Binang gurri means that governments have failed to hear what Indigenous peoples say is necessary for adequate Indigenous health policies – a holistic approach which
encompasses spiritual as well as physical health.