In all stages of life, good communication and hearing health connect us together and our society. To raise awareness about prevention of hearing loss, the World Hearing Day is held on March 3 each year to highlight health hearing problems and remind people to pay attention to their hearing.
The theme for World Hearing Day this year is ‘Hearing for Life. Don’t let hearing loss limit you’. According to the World Health Organization, some 460 million people coexist with a hearing loss that is considered to be a disability; approximately 34 million of them are children and almost 60 per cent of childhood hearing loss due to preventable causes. Hearing loss may result from genetic causes, complications at birth, certain infectious diseases, chronic ear infections, the use of particular drugs, exposure to excessive noise and ageing.
We should recognise the importance of preventing the causes leading to hearing loss and assisting those who are exposed to it, through timely and cost-effective intervention, indicating the existence of two types of hearing loss, the first being difficult hearing or partial hearing loss and this group of patients can hear but needs some help, such as raising the speakers’ voice or resorting to hearing devices, unlike the second type in which the patient suffers from deafness.
Clearly, the negative impact of hearing loss carries many dimensions, some of which are functional, social aspect and some of them are certainly economic. For instance, unaddressed hearing loss and ear diseases such as otitis media can have a significantly adverse effect on the academic performance of children. Not only have that, but also exclusion from communication can have a major impact on daily life, causing loneliness, isolation and frustration, especially among elderly people with hearing impairment. In some countries until now children with hearing impairment and deafness rarely receive any education. Adults with hearing loss also have a significantly higher unemployment rate. In fact, among workers, a higher percentage of people with hearing disabilities are in lower job grades compared to the general employees.
We do need to have an infant hearing screening programme, as it’s one of crucial management that can improve a child’s linguistic and educational outcomes. The Ministry of Health has set up such a programme long time ago and minimised the impact of hearing loss.
Very importantly, people with hearing impairment can benefit from the use of hearing devices, such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and other assistive devices. They may also benefit from speech therapy, auditory rehabilitation as well.
Untreated peoples with hearing loss live in a world of silence and may not be able to familiarise themselves with some moments and understand their importance, which confirms their sense of social isolation. There are a lot of misconceptions about the issue of hearing deficiency, especially about the solutions available for the treatment of hearing disability and I believe it is necessary to continue to recall the importance of early detection, followed by appropriate diagnosis and treatment, in addition to realising the importance of obtaining appropriate hearing solutions that will provide the desired results, as without a doubt the sense of hearing enriches our lives.
Dr Yousuf Ali al Mulla, MD, Ministry of Health, is a medical innovator and educator. For any queries regarding the content of the column, he can be contacted at: dryusufalmulla@gmail.com
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