Kelvin Kong 教授討論了他在耳疾方面的工作、代表性和文化安全的重要性，以及他對原住民醫療保健未來的樂觀態度。

在與 Lowitja 研究所合作的《澳洲醫學雜誌》原住民健康特刊前夕，Kelvin Kong 教授擔任嘉賓

Professor Kelvin Kong is a Worimi man who works on Awabakal and Worimi Country at John Hunter Hospital and John Hunter Children’s Hospital in Newcastle. He is an otolaryngology, head and neck surgeon and a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

Kelvin Kong 教授是沃里米人，在紐卡斯爾的約翰亨特醫院和約翰亨特兒童醫院的阿瓦巴卡爾和沃里米鄉村工作。他是耳鼻喉科、頭頸外科醫生，也是澳洲皇家外科學院院士。

In 2023, Professor Kong was named NAIDOC Person of the Year for his work with First Nations children at risk of hearing loss due to otitis media, which affects 40–85% of children in First Nations communities.

2023 年，孔教授因其對因中耳炎而面臨聽力損失風險的原住民兒童所做的工作而被評為 NAIDOC 年度人物，中耳炎影響著原住民社區 40-85% 的兒童。

“I’m extremely honoured by such a recognition, but I think for me it’s really about the recognition of the paucity of ear disease and this dichotomy we’re living in with health in this country,” said Professor Kong.

孔教授說：“獲得這樣的認可我感到非常榮幸，但我認為對我來說，這實際上是對耳病的罕見以及我們在這個國家生活在健康方面的二分法的認識。”

Professor Kong regularly travels to remote Australia to provide ear, nose and throat services to First Nations people, where he sees firsthand the dichotomy in health outcomes for ear disease in this country.

孔教授定期前往澳洲偏遠地區，為原住民提供耳鼻喉服務，在那裡他親眼目睹了這個國家耳病健康結果的兩極化。

“It’s allowed me to highlight ear disease in this country. It’s certainly allowed me to push for an agenda amongst my fraternity, but also amongst the government to really try and bring awareness and also make change in this area.”

「這讓我能夠強調這個國家的耳疾。這無疑讓我能夠在兄弟會和政府之間推動一項議程，真正嘗試提高人們的認識並在這一領域做出改變。

“I’m so glad I’m in Australia because of the care that we can get in this country. And by the same token, when I look at the ear disease rates that we have, the non-First Nations population have a completely different prevalence and incidence and outcome from ear disease than First Nations kids,” said Professor Kong.

「我很高興我在澳大利亞，因為我們可以在這個國家得到照顧。出於同樣的原因，當我觀察我們的耳疾發生率時，發現非原住民族群的耳病患病率、發病率和結果與原住民兒童完全不同，」孔教授說。

“And yet this is in the same hospitals, in the same health district, in the same country that we live in, that we’re seeing this real distinct difference.”

“然而，在我們居住的同一個醫院、同一個衛生區、同一個國家，我們看到了這種真正明顯的差異。”

Professor Kong emphasised the importance of culturally safe health care for First Nations peoples, with a need for representation at all levels of health care to ensure that health care is “by the community, for the community”.

孔教授強調了文化安全的醫療保健對原住民的重要性，各級醫療保健機構需要有代表性，以確保醫療保健「由社區提供，為社區服務」。

“Health to us is how do we make our kids successful and out of hospitals? How do we make sure that our mental and spiritual wellbeing is very encompassed? How do we make sure that we progress in society to be able to live the dreams that we want to dream and be a part of and engaged in society? And that’s being healthy and well,” said Professor Kong.

「健康對我們來說就是如何讓我們的孩子成功並走出醫院？我們如何確保我們的精神和精神健康得到全面保障？我們如何確保我們在社會中取得進步，能夠實現我們想要夢想的夢想，並成為社會的一部分並參與社會？這就是健康，」孔教授說。

“We’ve got to make sure that in all levels of hospital, there is actually appropriate representation that engages people in the right manner. But also those who are making decisions … about health outcomes need to have a lens of First Nations people when they’re looking at that.”

「我們必須確保各級醫院實際上都有適當的代表，以正確的方式吸引人們。但那些正在做出有關健康結果的決定的人在考慮這一問題時也需要有原住民的視角。

“My KPIs should be how many of the community am I getting access to? How many of these kids are actually getting through school safely? How many of these kids are actually getting all these issues addressed so they can actually push through school and get their employment and jobs they need? That’s the KPI I want to see because that’s what the community would hold me to expectation on.”

「我的 KPI 應該是我能接觸到多少社區？這些孩子中有多少真正安全地完成學業？這些孩子中有多少人真正解決了所有這些問題，以便他們可以真正完成學業並找到他們需要的工作和工作？這就是我希望看到的 KPI，因為這就是社區對我的期望。

Despite the challenges and disparities that continue, Professor Kong is optimistic about the progress being made in terms of representation and the discourse happening in health spaces.

儘管挑戰和差異仍然存在，但孔教授對健康領域的代表性和話語方面所取得的進展感到樂觀。

“The amount of females coming through surgery is amazing, the amount of First Nations doctors coming through medical schools is just amazing. Some of the kids I mentor at high schools are just incredible, and I’m sure I’ve seen our first president in some of the kids I’m mentoring.”

「接受手術的女性數量是驚人的，來自醫學院的原住民醫生的數量也是驚人的。我在高中指導過的一些孩子真是令人難以置信，我確信我在我指導的一些孩子身上看到了我們的第一任總統。

“[There is] optimism in me in the way in which we’re changing things, and certainly we see that in the engagement around hospitals and engagement around research and engagement around ethics. There’s a lot more conversations and engagement of First Nations people, which I think is wonderful.”

「我對我們改變事物的方式持樂觀態度，當然，我們在圍繞醫院的參與、圍繞研究的參與和圍繞道德的參與中看到了這一點。原住民之間有更多的對話和參與，我認為這很棒。

Professor Kong is one of the guest editors of the MJA Special Issue on First Nations Health, which is in partnership with the Lowitja Institute, Australia’s only national First Nations Community Controlled Research Institute.

孔教授是 MJA 原住民健康特刊的客座編輯之一，該特刊與澳洲唯一的國家原住民社區控制研究所 Lowitja 研究所合作。

“I give a really a high accolade to the MJA for this issue of First Nations health. It’s been put together by a bunch of amazing, talented First Nations people,” said Professor Kong.

「我對 MJA 在原住民健康議題上給予高度讚揚。它是由一群令人驚嘆、才華橫溢的原住民人士組成的，」孔教授說。

“Editors love the control of their magazines and their publications. But for them to be able to say, ‘You know what, this is something that we think is important and we want you guys to lead this,’ is pretty special.”

「編輯喜歡控制他們的雜誌和出版物。但對他們來說，’你知道嗎，我們認為這很重要，我們希望你們來領導這件事’，這是非常特別的。

Listen to the podcast with Professor Kelvin Kong.

收聽 Kelvin Kong 教授的播客。

Read the Special Issue of the MJA.

閱讀 MJA 特刊。

Subscribe to the free InSight+ weekly newsletter here. It is available to all readers, not just registered medical practitioners.

在此訂閱免費的 InSight+ 每週通訊。它適用於所有讀者，而不僅僅是註冊醫生。