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World Report on Hearing

WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION (WHO)
2021

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The World Report on Hearing (WRH) has been developed in response to the World Health Assembly resolution (WHA70.13), adopted in 2017 as a means of providing guidance for Member States to integrate ear and hearing care into their national health plans.

Based on the best available evidence, this report presents epidemiological and financial data on hearing loss; outlines available cost-effective solutions and sets the way forward through ‘Integrated people-centered ear and hearing care’ (IPC-EHC). The report proposes a set of key H.E.A.R.I.N.G. interventions that must be delivered through a strengthened health system to realize the vision of IPC-EHC. 

The WRH was developed in collaboration with experts and stakeholders in the field of ear and hearing care who informed the report’s strategic direction and ensured that it reflects a range of cultural contexts and approaches to hearing care. The report is global in its reach while keeping a special focus on low- and middle-income countries, where the number of people with hearing loss is not matched by the availability of services and resources.

Ear and hearing survey handbook

WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION (WHO)
May 2020

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This survey handbook provides guidance for planning and implementing hearing loss surveys, including information on possible data collection tools. The survey handbook aims to enable countries – particularly low- and middle-income countries – to gather data by planning and implementing population-based epidemiological surveys.

The main uses of data collected by such surveys are:

  • to provide an accurate picture of hearing loss prevalence in a given area, which could be a country or an area within the country (e.g. district or state);
  • to provide an overview of the most common probable causes of deafness and hearing loss in the study area;
  • assess global and regional prevalence and trends

 

Using this survey handbook for data collection will help to ensure comparability of data collected through studies conducted in different countries and by different investigators. This will facilitate the estimation of global prevalence and the examination of hearing loss trends over time.

Children with hearing impairment in Malawi, a cohort study

MULWAFU, Wakisa
et al
October 2019

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The aim of this research was to assess the outcome of children with ear and hearing disorders 3 years after initial diagnosis, in terms of referral uptake, treatment received and satisfaction with this treatment. It also aimed to assess the social participation of the affected children, specifically, their ability to make friends and communicate needs, and their enrolment at school

752 children had been diagnosed in 2013 as having a hearing impairment and 307 (40.8%) children were traced for follow-up in 2016. 

 

Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Volume 97, Number 10, October 2019, 645-728

http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.18.226241

Hearing loss grades and the International classification of functioning, disability and health

OLUSANYA, Bolajoko
DAVIS, Adrian
HOFFMANN, Howard
September 2019

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The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 466 million people were living with disabling hearing impairment in 2018 and this estimate is projected to rise to 630 million by 2030 and to over 900 million by 2050. However, these projections are based on a hearing impairment classification that does not fully reflect the provisions of the International classification of functioning, disability and health for assessing all forms of functional impairments. The case is made for a review of the concept of disabling hearing loss adopted by WHO after the recommendation of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Expert Group on Hearing Impairment in 2008.

 

Bull World Health Organ. 2019;97(10):725-728

doi: 10.2471/BLT.19.230367

Toolkit for safe listening devices and systems

WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION (WHO)
INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS UNION (ITU)
2019

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This toolkit provides practical guidance to support Member States, industry partners and civil society groups in the use and implementation of the WHO-ITU H.870 Global standard on safe listening devices and systems. The WHO-ITU Global standard is the result of a collaboration between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and has been developed in response to the growing prevalence of hearing loss and the threat to hearing posed by unsafe listening. The WHO-ITU Global standard has been developed using an evidence-based and consultative process, with the participation of experts in the field of sound, audiology, acoustics, communication, and smartphone technology

Deafness and hearing loss

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)
March 2018

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A short factsheet about deafness and hearing loss covering key facts, causes (congenital and acquired), impact (functional, social and economic), prevention, identification and management and WHO response. 

Addressing the rising prevalence of hearing loss

WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION (WHO)
February 2018

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Hearing loss is the fourth highest cause of disability globally, with an estimated annual cost of over 750 billion dollars. These facts are well known and have contributed to growing global consciousness on the need for accessible hearing care in all regions of the world. Looking forward however, the demand for hearing care is likely to grow significantly in coming decades. This report highlights the potential escalation of hearing loss to the middle of the century, and focusses on the factors responsible for hearing loss and the means to address them. 

WHO estimates in 2008 found that 360 million people worldwide live with disabling hearing loss, including 32 million children and 180 million older adults. The most recent estimations place this figure at over 466 million people with disabling hearing loss in 2018. The main areas of the world affected by disabling hearing loss are the South Asian, Asia Pacific and Sub-Saharan African regions, with a prevalence rate almost four times that of the high income regions.

 

Measures to address these concerns deal with: prevention of infections in mothers and babies; chronic ear infections; noise exposure; and ototoxic hearing loss.

 

Public health aspects are highlighted. 

Make Listening Safe

NAKATANI, Jordan
et al
August 2015

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As part of the WHO Make Listening Safe initiative, students of the University of Washington's Speech and Hearing Science Department under the guidance of Dr Kelly Tremblay and in collaboration with the WHO PDH have developed a brief video on recreational noise induced hearing loss

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