3 March 2024: World Hearing Day in Australia
Did you know there are 4 million Australians living with hearing loss?
And this figure is predicted to increase to almost 9 million by 2050 as the population in Australia ages.
What is World Hearing Day?
World Hearing Day is the largest global awareness campaign on ear and hearing care that calls for action to address hearing loss.
Why care about hearing?
Hearing is vital for people’s communication abilities, quality of life, social participation, and health. Without healthy hearing, we lose connection to the people around us and this can lead to social isolation, changes to cognitive health and negative impacts on healthspan.
The prevalence of hearing loss will rise considerably in coming decades due to changing population demographics, increasing exposure to risk factors such as recreational noise, and persistence of untreated ear conditions such as otitis media.
We can all play a part in promoting better hearing health, hearing protection and the benefits of high-quality ear and hearing care.
Key facts
- Hearing loss is the most common disability of adulthood.
- More than 450 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss, and 34 million of these are children.
- It is estimated that by 2050 the above figures will double.
- Hearing loss may result from genetic causes, complications at birth, certain infectious diseases, chronic ear infections, the use of particular drugs, exposure to excessive noise, and ageing.
- 60% of childhood hearing loss is due to preventable causes.
- 1 billion young people (aged between 12–35 years) are at risk of hearing loss due to exposure to noise in recreational settings.
- Untreated hearing loss poses an annual cost of $15 billion just in Australia.
- People with hearing loss benefit from early identification; remediation and access to high-quality audiology; use of hearing aids and other assistive devices; and other forms of educational, social and professional support.
- Current estimates suggest an 83% gap in hearing aid need and use – only 17% of those who could benefit from use of a hearing aid actually use one. This stat itself is mind-blowing given how effective modern hearing aids that are professionally and correctly fitted can be.
