A total of 334 learners in Gauteng public schools have been issued with free hearing aids between April and August this year, ensuring that there are no barriers to learning.
This is through the Gauteng Department of Health’s (GDoH’S) Integrated School Health Programme (ISHP) where school health teams including nurses visit all primary and secondary schools in the province to screen and assess the learners in grades R, 1, 4, 8, and 10 for health issues that may affect learning.
The South African World Hearing Forum members, the World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office in collaboration with the National Department of Health, the Clinton Health Access Initiative and the University of Pretoria’s WHO collaborating centre for deafness and hearing loss recently jointly hosted a webinar on The Launch of the World Report on Hearing to discuss and plan the next steps needed to align with global targets to make ear and hearing care accessible to all South Africans.
Prof De Wer Swanepoel from the University of Pretoria presented on the World Report on Hearing within the South African context. It is said that 12 million South Africans have some form of hearing loss and 3.6 million require treatment of whom less than 10% are receiving any treatment.
The department said out of a total of 33 813 Grade 1 learners and 36 008 Grade 8 learners who were screened through the ISHP Programme in the period under review, a total of 875 learners were identified as having hearing problems.
“Out of these, 334 were issued with hearing aids, while others were referred to the nearest health facilities and hospitals for further management and treatment by professional nurses, doctors, audiologists and speech therapists,” said acting GDoH spokesperson Khutso Rabothata.
Hearing loss can be caused by a long period of exposure to excessive noise, injury to the middle or inner ear, ear infection, impacted wax or presence of a foreign body in the ear.
“Through the ISHP programme, learners are given health education, health screening for vision, hearing and oral health, as well as on-site services such as deworming and immunisation. It is therefore important for parents to sign consent forms to ensure that children are not left out,” said Rabothata.
He advised that it is important that people avoid prolonged exposure to excessive noise and avoid putting anything in the ear canal to prevent hearing loss. “Those who are experiencing hearing challenges including pain should visit their nearest health facility to receive appropriate care and treatment.
“Those who present at health facilities for ear infections and are given antibiotics are encouraged to take the full course of your treatment as advised by a health professional to ensure full recovery,” he said.
Rabothatha said the department had issued 6 236 hearing aids across healthcare facilities in the 2023/24 financial year to both adult and paediatric patients.
He said in the same period, 32 new cochlear implants were issued to patients who had permanently lost their hearing, while 28 patients had their devices upgraded to keep existing cochlear implants online.
According to the WHO, over 5% of the world’s population – or 430 million people – require rehabilitation to address their disabling hearing loss (including 34 million children). It is estimated that by 2050 over 700 million people – or 1 in every 10 people – will have disabling hearing loss.
The organisation further said disabling hearing loss refers to hearing loss greater than 35 decibels in the better hearing ear. Nearly 80% of people with disabling hearing loss live in low- and middle-income countries. “The prevalence of hearing loss increases with age, among those older than 60 years, over 25% are affected by disabling hearing loss,” said WHO.
The organisation also highlighted that in most countries, ear and hearing care is still not integrated into national health systems and accessing care services is challenging for those with ear diseases and hearing loss. Moreover, access to ear and hearing care is poorly measured and documented, and relevant indicators are lacking in the health information system.
“WHO estimates that unaddressed hearing loss poses an annual global cost of US$ 980 billion. This includes health sector costs (excluding the cost of hearing devices), costs of educational support, loss of productivity and societal costs. Of these costs, 57% are attributed to low- and middle-income countries,” said WHO.
Listicles: Factors across the life span
cerumen impaction (impacted ear wax)
trauma to the ear or head.
loud noise/loud sounds.
ototoxic medicines.
work related ototoxic chemicals.
nutritional deficiencies.
viral infections and other ear conditions.
delayed onset or progressive genetic hearing loss.’
Saturday Star
ntombi.nkosi@inl.co.za