Over 6,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) children in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT) are at risk for hearing loss, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s (AIHW) NT hearing health report released last week.
According to the report:
“While a number of hearing health services have been provided to Indigenous children and
young people in the Northern Territory, there are still high numbers of outstanding referrals.
At December 2018, there were 3,098 children and young people on the waiting list for
outreach audiology services and 3,918 children and young people on the waiting list for
ENT teleotology services. In 2017, there were 4,037 children and young people on the
waiting list for ENT teleotology services. A comparison of the number of referrals for ENT
teleotology between 2017 and 2018 can be found in Table S4.6.
The high number of outstanding referrals can largely be explained by a shortage of
available specialists.”
On the positive side, the numbers of youth with hearing loss decreased by 8% from 2012-2018. Although hearing loss and ear disease are still considered a public health emergency by the World Health Organization, progress is being made.
Read my related article, Hearing Loss Yet Another Health Emergency for Indigenous Australian Children.
Adrian Chernyk: Health & Indigenous Australians 