International Ear Care Day |03 March 2015

Hearing screenings for the elderly

Elderly people in selected districts on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue are undergoing hearing screenings this week as part of activities to mark the International Ear Care Day being celebrated today.

The screening sessions started yesterday on La Digue and today and tomorrow the sessions will be conducted at Baie Ste Anne and Grand Anse on Praslin respectively.

People on Praslin and La Digue will be fitted with hearing aids if required, meaning that an elderly person on Praslin or La Digue who comes for screening and is found to be in need of a hearing aid, will actually go back home with an appropriately fitted hearing aid on the same day.

On Mahé the screenings will be conducted on Thursday at the North East Point Regional Home for the Elderly and on Friday for the elderly in South Mahé.

Hearing loss is the most common sensory disability globally. In view of the epidemiology, preventability and public health impact of this condition, it is important that this issue should be addressed and advocacy undertaken to promote activities and action relevant to prevention of hearing loss.

In recognition of this, an International Ear Care Day was established “for promoting global actions on hearing care, and minimising occurrence of hearing impairment” celebrated this year on March 3.

The theme for this year is ‘Making hearing safe’.
Of the estimated 360 million cases of disabling hearing loss in the world, at least half could have been avoided through primary prevention, including healthy ear care practices.

Noise pollution and noise exposure is a major cause of avoidable hearing loss. While it is true in the past that most cases were due to occupational exposure, social and recreational noise exposure is becoming a major cause for concern especially in young people. Exposure to loud music at discotheques, music concerts and through the use of increasingly powerful and accessible personal audio devices is the most important sources of recreational noise exposure. As to be expected, the Seychellois youth is also at risk. One has only to look around to see all the adolescents and young adults, and increasingly also pre-teenagers, walking around with earphones and ear buds, oblivious to their surroundings.  
The ministry’s focus for this year though is on the elderly.

“Deafness and ageing go hand in hand, or so we think. Little do we realise that hearing impairment has a detrimental effect on the elderly, forcing them into social isolation, alienating them from friends and family alike,” a press release from the Ministry of Health states.
 
The hearing screenings this week are being carried out in collaboration with partners from South Africa.