Your Excellency, the Honourable Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Health and Family Welfare for India, and Chairman of the WHO Executive Board,
Alana Nichols,
Katherine Bouton,
Excellencies, distinguished guests, dear colleagues and friends,
My sincere thanks to Sandile Majola and the Ndlovu Youth Choir for your moving performance.
Thank you all for joining us today for the launch of World Report on Hearing. This important document counteracts some of the widespread myths and misperceptions about hearing loss.
One of them is that hearing loss is a problem of older people and is a sign of senility and decline.
Your presence here is a wonderful step in showing the world that this is not true. Hearing loss affects people of all ages.
The second myth is that hearing loss is inevitable. In fact, an estimated 60% of childhood hearing loss is due to preventable causes.
When young people take responsibility for their hearing and become role models of safe listening, attitudes to hearing loss will start to change.
On behalf of WHO, I thank you all for showing the world the importance of hearing loss prevention.
Over 1.5 billion people currently experience some degree of hearing loss, and this number could grow to 2.5 billion by 2050.
Nearly a third of them, close to half a million people, currently require hearing rehabilitation services.
Hearing loss continues to be the world’s third-largest cause of disability.
But we know how to prevent it.
As Sandile told us so eloquently just know, we know how to prevent hearing loss that is caused by listening to loud music.
We need to make listening safe for the 1.1 billion young people who are putting their hearing at risk, simply by enjoying a one of life’s pleasures.
We also know how to prevent and treat common ear infections which continue to affect over 200 million children each year, leading to avoidable hearing loss.
We also have effective solutions to address hearing loss.
Millions of people are already benefiting from hearing aids, implants, therapy, sign language and captioning.
However, their use is still far too limited. Many people, especially in low-resource settings, cannot access these critical tools.
Only about 17% of those in need are able to benefit from hearing care at present. This is the result of widespread under-prioritization of ear and hearing care.
Ear and hearing care must be part of every country’s journey towards universal health coverage.
The human cost of this gap to people with hearing loss and their families is huge.
At the same time, a heavy price is also levied on society at large.
These cost-effective interventions are an investment in a healthier and more prosperous society.
Without them, the global economy is estimated to lose close to one trillion dollars each year.
Inaction is no longer an option. The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us a hard lesson, that health is not a luxury item.
Rather, health is the foundation of social, economic and political development and an investment in a safer, fairer and more prosperous world for all people.
Investing in ear and hearing care can, over ten years, could benefit over 1.4 billion people and bring a return a return of nearly 16 U.S. dollars for every dollar invested.
The World Report on Hearing outlines clear actions that we must take to achieve the global target of a 20% relative increase in coverage of hearing care services by 2030.
The annual investment to scale up ear and hearing care is estimated at 1 dollar and 33 cents U.S. per capita.
Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
I would like to again offer my thanks to His Excellency, the Honorable Dr Harsh Vardhan, for his leadership in the field of ear and hearing care.
India’s work to ensure access to critical services, beginning at the community and primary care level, is an example for others to emulate.
The speakers today demonstrate that there are effective solutions to address the ear and hearing care needs of everyone
I want to assure Member States and partners of WHO’s commitment to ensuring access to ear and hearing care, as an essential part of primary health care and universal health coverage.
I wish you a happy World Hearing Day.
I thank you.