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World Hearing Day is 3/3
At an international hearing conference in 2007, the World Health Organization announced an annual event titled “World Hearing Day”. The event takes place every March 3rd, partly because the date, 3/3 somewhat resembles two ears! This cleverly chosen date exists to help spread awareness about hearing and ear care issues on a global scale. With World Hearing Day, the World Health Organization aims to educate the public on hearing loss prevention and promote health hearing and ear health throughout the world.
To accomplish this goal, each year the World Health Organization establishes a unique theme for World Hearing Day. There have been many interesting and creative themes in past years. The theme for 2019 is “Get Your Hearing Checked!”
World Hearing Day 2019 “Get Your Hearing Checked!”
This year’s theme is extremely straight forward and simple. It aims to stress the importance of early identification and intervention of hearing loss and deafness. The benefits of treating hearing loss are vast and impactful and in order to reap these benefits, one must first identify and treat their hearing loss! By encouraging communities throughout the world to check their hearing, more people can experience the joys of treating their hearing loss, sooner.
The Numbers Behind World Hearing Day
World Hearing Day was developed because the World Health Organization (WHO) understands the importance of hearing and hearing health. The organization also understands how common hearing loss is on a global scale, and the toll untreated hearing loss takes on us as individuals as well as our communities as a whole. Here are just a few of the figures.
- 446 million –446 million is the number of people throughout the world who currently live with disabling hearing loss. This statistic includes 36 million babies and children.
- 900 million –While there are already a staggering 446 million people living with disabling hearing loss, this number is set to make a dramatic increase. In just over thirty years, experts predict that the number of people with disabling hearing impairments will grow to an incredible 900 million. If this prediction becomes reality, it will mean that about 1-in-10 people on the planet will experience hearing loss that is severe enough to be disabling by the year 2050.
- 1.1 billion –WHO estimates that about 1.1 billion young people are currently at risk of developing permanent hearing loss as a result of their noisy leisure activities, including listening to music through personal listening devices.
- 750 billion –It is estimated that the global cost of hearing loss (in US dollars) is an incredible 750 billion. At our current rate, this number will only increase and become more stifling. Education about hearing protection and preventative measures as well as early identification are much more cost effective than hearing loss treatment or other factors associated with untreated hearing loss.
The Benefits of Treating Hearing Loss
There are many benefits of treating hearing loss, and the theme of this year’s World Hearing Day, “Get Your Hearing Checked” encourages us to take the first step towards making these benefits a reality for us. Through independent scientific research, treating hearing loss has been found to increase personal happiness and overall quality of life, our relationships, our earning potential, our social lives, our cognitive health and our physical health and safety.
Celebrate World Hearing Day with a Hearing Test
There is no better way to celebrate World Hearing Day than with a hearing test! If you are 60 or older or if you have begun to notice some changes in your hearing, reach out to our friendly team at Audiology Consultants today. Also, celebrating is always better with a friend. If you think someone you love may be experiencing some of the early signs of hearing loss, encourage them to accompany you!
Most patients report encouragement from friends and family as their number one reason for actually taking the first step and making the commitment to take a hearing screen. Once you know your status, you can begin the process of treating your hearing, and reaping all the many benefits that come with it!