The WHO regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, disclosed this in her message to mark and commemorate the 2023 World Hearing Day with the theme ’Ear and hearing care for all! Let’s make it a reality’.
She also said the number could rise to over 2.5 billion by 2030.
The World Hearing Day is held on March 3 each year to raise awareness on how to prevent deafness and hearing loss and promote ear and hearing care across the world.
Moeti said that the burden of ear and hearing problems reflects significant inequalities disproportionately impacting on the marginalised populations across the globe.
She said in Africa, an estimated 135 million people are battling with ear and hearing problems as medical conditions, saying the number has been on the increase by the day.
Ms Moeti said at the current rate, it was likely that by the year 2050 about 338 million people would be affected by visual and hearing problems in Africa.
The WHO regional director said the day was an opportunity to raise awareness on the preventive measures as well as promote ear and hearing care worldwide.
She explained that It was a day to reiterate the message on preventing and addressing common ear and hearing problems as nearly $30 billion were lost due to the collective failure to address the problem in Africa.
According to her, more than 60 per cent of the common ear diseases and hearing loss can be detected and often managed at the primary level of medical care.
“We acknowledge recent efforts made by the relevant bodies towards addressing hearing and visual problems. The ongoing support to Kenya to establish a centre of excellence for eye health clinic, eye health and oral health is a welcome step,” said Ms Moeti. “Also, with our support, countries are developing and implementing national strategies for ear health.”
According to her, in 2022, Kenya, Malawi, and Guinea launched and started to implement national ear and hearing care strategies.
She said there was also a regional analysis on ear and hearing care, including country profiles for all member states.
Ms Moeti said two modules on ear and hearing care management for primary health care workers were developed saying that it would integrated into the WHO PEN packages.
“Here are the most burning issues affecting patients: Many people with hearing loss do not know how and where to find help or do not have access to the needed services. This greatly impacts on the lives of those affected, their families, and their communities,” she noted.
She said WHO had recently launched a primary ear and hearing care training manual that was intended to inform doctors, nurses, and other health workers to achieve universal coverage.
She called on governments to prioritise ear and hearing care health programmes as part of their universal healthcare agenda and increase their political and financial commitment.
(NAN)