New York
Calling for extra investment in prevention and treatment, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned on Tuesday that one in four of the world´s population will suffer from hearing problems by 2050.
The first-ever global report on hearing said that the causes of many of the problems — such as infections, diseases, birth defects, noise exposure, and lifestyle choices — could be prevented.
The report proposed a package of measures, which it calculated would cost $1.33 per person per year.
Against that, it set the figure of nearly a trillion US dollars lost every year because the issue was not being properly addressed.
“Failure to act will be costly in terms of the health and well-being of those affected, and the financial losses arising from their exclusion from communication, education, and employment,” said the report.
One in five people worldwide has hearing problems currently, it said. But the report warned: “The number of people with hearing loss may increase more than 1.5-fold during the next three decades” to 2.5 billion people — up from 1.6 billion in 2019.—AFP
