World Hearing Day 2023: Ear and Hearing Care for All

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Extract from the article: Every year on 03 March, the world celebrates World Hearing Day. This day aims to raise awareness about the prevention and management of common ear and hearing problems. This year's theme is « Ear and Hearing Care for All - Let's Make it Happen ». Ahe

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Every year on 03 March, the world celebrates World Hearing Day. This day aims to raise awareness about the prevention and management of common ear and hearing problems. This year's theme is « Ear and Hearing Care for All - Let's Make it Happen ». Ahead of the event, the Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, called on countries to prioritise ear and hearing care programmes as part of their non-communicable disease control programmes.

Ear and hearing disorders are among the most common problems encountered worldwide. In Africa, ear and hearing disorders affect 135 million people and could reach over 338 million by 2050. One of the problems faced by people with hearing loss is the high cost of treatment. 

In Togo, the ENT departments of the Sylvanus Olympio University Hospital and the Lomé Campus, as well as several public and private health facilities, record consultations, cases of otitis externa, allergies, scratching lesions and foreign bodies in the external auditory canal.

To this end, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, Director of WHO's Africa Region, on the occasion of this new edition, encourages « governments to prioritise ear and hearing care programmes as part of their programmes to control non-communicable diseases and achieve universal health coverage, and to increase their commitment to campaigning, policy and funding activities ».

The integration of ear and hearing care into primary care services can be achieved through training and capacity building at this level. Such integration will benefit people and bring countries closer to the goal of universal health coverage.

On this occasion, WHO will present a new training manual entitled « Primary ear and hearing care training manual for health workers and general practitioners ». This primary ear and hearing care training manual is intended for health workers and general practitioners. It will be accompanied by a trainer's guide and other resource materials.

Arnaud KONDO