"The systematic review allows us to view the burden of ear disease in Aboriginal children through an international perspective. Viewed this way, the level of ear disease as reported in many Aboriginal community studies is significant and extreme. Australia has a massive public health problem when we consider the large numbers of Aborig (chronic suppurative otitis media). This is the way the World Health Organisation describes the burden of sufferingwhen greater than 4 percent of the population have runny ears. What we see in Aboriginal communities are, large numbers of children with runny ears similar to the number seen in many developing countries."--Foreword.