As the world celebrates the World hearing day on 3rd March 2025, there is a global call for efforts to ensure good ear and hearing health throughout life. There is a dire need for urgent individual and societal action to curb the worrying rise of hearing loss globally especially among the youth and old age generations. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 430 million people (1 in 10) live with disabling hearing loss and that nearly 2.5 billion people will have some degree of hearing loss by 2050.
Impact of unaddressed hearing loss
The prevalence of unaddressed hearing loss and ear disease is overwhelming and has dire consequences throughout the life span. Children affected by hearing loss will have delayed speech and language development, poor academic performance and social isolation. Beyond this, hearing loss leads to social isolation, economic hardship due to lack of employment, poor cognitive development and stigmatization. The overall life of a person living with hearing loss may be poor if timely and proper interventions are not done.
Causes of hearing loss
It is imperative to note that despite the sharp projected rise in the prevalence of hearing loss, most of the causes are preventable. A growing threat is recreational noise in clubs, gaming sessions, concerts and other social settings. Other preventable causes include ear infections, cerumen impaction, ototoxic drugs nutritional deficiencies, work related noise and ototoxic chemicals. Some hearing loss may be genetically acquired or due to accidents causing head or ear trauma.
The other causes of hearing loss are as listed below:
1. Birth asphyxia
2. Jaundice (Hyperbilirubinemia)
3. Low birth weight
4. Intrauterine infections
5. Smoking
6. Otosclerosis
7. Chronic diseases
8. Age related hearing loss
Signs of hearing loss
Hearing loss is a silent condition which leads to late diagnosis and intervention, especially for infants and young children. The following are common signs that one needs a hearing check.
• Infants not responding to loud sounds (startling) or turning the head to familiar sounds.
• Delayed speech development
• Poor academic performance/low concentration
• Difficulty understanding speech in noisy environments
• Turning up TV or radio volume louder than others
• Tinnitus- ringing, buzzing sounds in the ear
• Struggling locating direction of sounds
• Asking people to repeat themselves often
• Struggling following conversation when people are not facing you
• Raising the volume of the phone or using loudspeaker.
World hearing Day: KUTRRH Chapter
This Year’s Theme, “Changing Mindsets: Empower yourself to make ear and hearing care a reality for all!”, emphasizes proactive engagement in maintaining hearing health by laying importance on individual and societal efforts to ensure good ear and hearing health throughout life. These efforts include campaigns to inspire change of behavior such as safe listening practices for gamers, regular hearing and ear checkup and use of assistive devices such as hearing aids for those living with hearing loss.
In Kenya, the world hearing day celebrations were done, at National and county levels with various stakeholders participating in different activities including, advocacy and awareness creation ,health education on ear and hearing care, hearing screening and treatment in various community settings. Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral & Research Hospital (KUTRRH) commemorated the world hearing month by participating in national events at Afya House and Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH). There was a series of 3 Continuous Medical Education (CME) done virtually led by Dr. Lilian Moko (ENT Surgeon) targeted to raise awareness among the health workers to increase knowledge on ear and hearing conditions. This aims at promoting early diagnosis, prompt referrals and management of ear and hearing conditions.
On March 3, 2025, a comprehensive hearing screening was conducted at Afya House and KNH where a total of 123 people were screened for ear and hearing conditions. This was done in collaboration with Ministry of Health (MOH),KUTRRH, KNH, Kenya Society for Deaf Children (KSDC) among other stakeholders. The Afya House screening targeted Staff working at Afya house Offices and the one at KNH individuals across various demographics who visited the hospital that day.
Despite the challenges facing ear and hearing care, most hearing loss is preventable. There’s a global call for individuals to safeguard their hearing by safe listening practice, seeking ear and hearing care promptly, early management of ear conditions and supporting those with hearing problems. Hearing loss can be managed by treating infections using medication, some will require surgical interventions or use of hearing aids, cochlear implantation and other assistive devices.