The inaugural World Report on Hearing: From barriers to a platform for change

Catherine M McMahon; Carrie L Nieman; Peter R Thorne; Susan D Emmett; Mahmood F Bhutta

doi:10.1111/coa.13756

The inaugural World Report on Hearing: From barriers to a platform for change

Clin Otolaryngol. 2021 May;46(3):459-463. doi: 10.1111/coa.13756. Epub 2021 Mar 26.

Authors

Catherine M McMahon^{1

2}, Carrie L Nieman^{3

4}, Peter R Thorne^{5

6}, Susan D Emmett^{7

8}, Mahmood F Bhutta^{9

10}

Affiliations

¹ HEAR Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
² Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
³ Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁴ Cochlear Center for Hearing & Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁵ Section of Audiology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
⁶ Eisdell Moore Centre, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
⁷ Department of Head and Neck Surgery and Communication Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA.
⁸ Duke Global Health Institute, Durham, NC, USA.
⁹ University Hospitals Sussex, Brighton, UK.
¹⁰ Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Brighton, UK.

PMID: 33733605
DOI: 10.1111/coa.13756

Abstract

The inaugural World Report on Hearing was recently published by the World Health Organisation, and outlines the burden of hearing loss, and strategies to overcome this through preventative and public health approaches. Here, we identify barriers to wide-scale adoption, including historic low prioritisation of hearing loss against other public health needs, a lack of a health workforce with relevant training, poor access to assistive technology, and individual and community-level stigma and misunderstanding. Overcoming these barriers will require multi-sector stakeholder collaboration, involving ear and hearing care professionals, patients, communities, industry and policymakers.

Keywords: World Report on Hearing; barriers to care; burden of hearing loss.

Publication types

Editorial

MeSH terms

Global Health*
Health Services Needs and Demand
Hearing Aids
Hearing Loss / rehabilitation*
Humans
Organizational Objectives
Quality of Life
World Health Organization*