By: Roselyn Ganyaglo
As World Hearing Day is observed, there have been calls to integrate hearing impairment issues into the primary health care of the country.
Effective intervention has also been identified as the only sure way to curb the rising numbers of hearing impairment cases.
As part of the occasion, the West Africa Center for Cell Biology, of Infectious Pathogens, WACCBIP, held a forum at the University of Ghana, Legon to highlight issues bothering on hearing impairment in the country.
Speaking on the theme: “Ear and hearing care for all! Let’s make it a reality”, A former PhD Student of the Center, Dr. Elvis Twumasi Aboagye described the condition as a silent epidemic because of the growth in numbers.
“It affects about 5 percent of the world’s population” he said.
He indicated that sixty percent of the cases are genetic and that meningitis is the common cause of the condition in children. ” We are therefore drawing the attention of government and other stakeholders to institute early measures as well as create the awareness prevent hearing impairment” he said.
Hearing impairment can develop when any part of the ear be it the outer ear, middle ear, inner ear, hearing (acoustic) nerve, and auditory system is not working in the usual way. The disorder can affect a child’s ability to talk and other social skills.
There are the preventable and non preventable forms of impairment, with preventable forming sixty percent and non- preventable being forty percent.
Dr. Twumasi Aboagye indicated that diagnosis followed by appropriate intervention helps children to reach their full potential same as their hearing peers.
Hearing impairment can happen any time during life from before birth to adulthood.
He therefore urged the public to seek early assistance, adding that there should be counseling sessions on the subject for couples.
Head of Communication and Public Engagement at WACCBIP, Andrew Nantogmah enumerated some signs to look out for in children who have the condition. “These include not startling at loud noises, hearing some sounds but not others, and not turning to the source of a sound after six months” he said.
He again revealed that eighty percent of the factors causing the problem are hereditary with environmental factors causing twenty percent.
Mr. Nantogmah said if speech is delayed and not clear, if a child does not follow direction and turns TV volume very loud, then the parent must seek help early to address the situation.
The experts also called for capacity building for health workers so they can adopt modern ways of assisting people who are confronted with hearing impairment.
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