Maori deafness remedies urged

Press, 4 September 1989, Page 7

Maori deafness remedies urged

PA Wellington The Government should spend $lO million over the next decade to help combat hearing problems among Maoris, says a report. The report of a review team formed earlier this year concluded that "unacceptably high” levels of Maori deafness required prevention, early detection and effective treatment strategies.

It recommended that the Government help the Maori Women’s Welfare League and Te Kohanga Reo Trust to establish preventive programmes and appoint Maori liaison officers to the National Audiology Centre and the Association for the Deaf. It also called for a network of specialist' nurses to treat middle ear

infections. The measures would cost $1 million a year for the next decade. The team’s chairman, Dr Mason Durie, said the problem was serious enough to warrant urgent Government action. There was mounting evidence to show hearing problems were a key factor in school failure, offending, unemployment and poor social adjustment, Dr Durie said. “The costs of hearing impairment are extraordinarily high for Maori people. The recommendations made by the review team would represent major long term savings in both personal and economic terms.”