TEHRAN – The national hearing screening campaign has covered around 97 percent of the target population, an official with the health ministry has said.

Hearing screening can detect possible hearing loss in the first days of an infant’s life. Hearing impediments or hearing loss can be treated by timely detection and early intervention, such as the use of hearing aids or cochlear implants, IRNA quoted Jafar Jandaqi as saying.

The official made the remarks on the occasion of the national health week, being held from April 21 to 27.

Currently, the country is providing free cochlear implants, and the people are paying just for the hearing tests, which are planned to be done free of charge soon, as well, the official added.

Highlighting that Iran is sharing its expertise and technology in treating hearing loss to other countries, Jandaqi said, “More than 50 percent of hearing loss and problems in adults and 60 percent of hearing loss and impediments in children can be prevented through health care measures.”

The prevalence of hearing loss among school-age children in the country has been reported to be about two percent. Around three to five infants of every 1,000 children have hearing loss, he noted.

Some 25 out of every 1,000 preschool children are also detected with hearing impairments, making it essential to expand the screening programs, Jandaqi stressed.

According to health minister Mohammad-Reza Zafarqandi, some 2,000 cochlear implants are performed annually in Iran.

People with hearing loss can benefit from early identification; use of hearing aids, cochlear implants, and other assistive devices; captioning and sign language; and other forms of educational and social support.

Around 466 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss, and 34 million of these are children, World Health Organization deafness and hearing loss report states.

It is estimated that by 2050, over 900 million people will suffer disabling hearing loss.

Hearing loss may be caused by genetic causes, complications at birth, certain infectious diseases, chronic ear infections, the use of particular drugs, exposure to excessive noise, and ageing. 

Unaddressed hearing loss incurs an annual global cost of $750 billion. Interventions to prevent, identify, and address hearing loss are cost-effective and can bring great benefit to individuals.

MT/MG