The report proposed a package of measures, which he calculated would cost $ 1.33 per person per year.
Geneva:
One in four of the world’s population will suffer from hearing problems by 2050, the World Health Organization warned on Tuesday, calling for additional investment in prevention and treatment.
The first global hearing report said that the causes of many problems – such as infections, diseases, birth defects, exposure to noise and lifestyle choices – could be prevented.
The report proposed a package of measures, which he calculated would cost $ 1.33 per person per year.
Against this, he set the figure of almost one trillion US dollars lost each year because the problem was not properly addressed.
“Failure to do so will be costly in terms of the health and well-being of those affected and the financial losses resulting from their exclusion from communication, education and employment,” the report said.
One in five people worldwide has hearing problems today, it is said.
But the report warned: “The number of people with hearing loss may increase 1.5 times in the next three decades” to 2.5 billion people – up from 1.6 billion in 2019.
Of the 2.5 billion, 700 million would be severe enough in 2050 to require some kind of treatment, he added – from 430 million in 2019.
Much of the projected growth is due to demographic and population trends, she added.
Poor access to treatment
An important factor in hearing problems is the lack of access to care, which is particularly striking in low-income countries, where there are far fewer professionals available to treat them.
As almost 80 percent of people with hearing loss live in such countries, most do not receive the help they need.
Even in richer countries with better facilities, access to care is often unequal, the report said.
And the lack of accurate information and the stigma surrounding ear disease and hearing loss also prevent people from receiving the care they need.
“Even among healthcare providers, knowledge relevant to prevention, early identification and management of hearing loss and ear disease is commonly lacking,” he said.
The report proposed a package of measures, including public health initiatives, from reducing noise in public spaces to increasing vaccinations for diseases such as meningitis that can cause hearing loss.
He also recommended systematic screening to identify the problem at key points in people’s lives.
Among children, it is said, hearing loss could be prevented in 60 percent of cases.
“We lose about a trillion US dollars every year because of our collective failure to adequately address hearing loss,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in the report.
“While the financial burden is enormous, what cannot be quantified is the suffering caused by the loss of communication, education and social interaction that accompanies the loss of unaddressed hearing.”
(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated stream.)