WHO (2021) World Report on Hearing
Just like the stirrup on a horse, the Hearing Healthcare Alliance gives social impact programs a leg up. We get them moving, and we support them through their journey. That’s why the stirrup (often known as the stapes) is represented in our logo. Situated in the middle ear, it’s not only the smallest bone in the human body but it also represents our goals: Supporting and initiating development in the area of hearing healthcare.
The effects of hearing loss can lead to social isolation, loneliness, and stigma.
In developing countries, children with severe and profound hearing loss have limited or no access to education, even schooling.
Later in life hearing loss dramatically influences people’s employment: making it impossible or limiting career options, leading to involuntary early retirement.
Unaddressed hearing loss has a negative effect on cognition and general development in children.
Hearing loss increases the risk of dementia by eight percent and is the number one modifiable risk factor for the disease.
On an economic level, unaddressed hearing loss costs the world US$ 980 billion annually, 57% of which are attributed to low- and middle-income countries.
WHO (2021) World Report on Hearing.
Screening centres have been established at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, Kawempe National Referral Hospital, Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, and Masaka Regional Referral Hospital. Screening as well as further diagnosis will take place at Makerere University Teaching Hospital. This pilot programme is only possible because of leadership and expertise from the Ministry of Health Uganda with the support of Makerere University Research and Innovation Fund, the Otolaryngology Society of Uganda, and Path Medical (equipment & know-how partner).
The Hearing Healthcare Alliance is an organization based on the partnership of the Austrian Development Agency and a family-owned company MED-EL.
The Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the operational unit of Austrian Development Cooperation, seeks to ensure that sustainable development works to the benefit of all people in Africa, Asia, Southeast Europe and the South Caucasus. Together with partner countries, public institutions, civil society organisations and businesses, ADA is currently implementing projects and programs with a total volume of 500 million euros.
MED-EL is a family-owned company founded by two renowned scientists, Doctor Ingeborg Hochmair and Professor Doctor Erwin Hochmair in 1990. The company creates solutions to address all kinds of hearing loss. Its cochlear implants and other products help people with hearing loss all over the planet to (re)discover the beautiful world of sounds.
The miraculous hearing healthcare development in Bangladesh and Ivory Coast are like fairy tales. But the truth is that a lot of work went into making these fairy tales come true.
Hearing Healthcare Alliance started its activities in 2018 with the project “Hearing Healthcare Services for Bangladesh and Ivory Coast”. The project created a basis for and gave a much-needed leg-up up on the long journey to a better hearing health sector and quality of life for people with hearing loss in these countries.
Bangladesh is an extremely densely populated country with about 165,000,000 people living there. It also makes the large proportion of people in Bangladesh with disabling hearing loss especially worrying. The National Survey on Prevalence of Hearing Impairments from 2013 showed that the exact number is 9.6 percent of the population.
The problem is made more severe by the extremely poor hearing healthcare system, and lack of facilities and specialists to treat people with hearing loss. The need for help is too great to ignore. But the complexity of the problem requires effort from very different organizations across a variety of fields.
The Hearing Healthcare Alliance successfully brought together multiple public and private organizations. This resulted in significant and tangible changes in the following areas:
Education & Training Support
On-going education programs increase the number of certified specialists on a constant basis in areas where there is an obvious lack, such as audiology and speech-language pathology. For this specialization, a program was set up to provide a full professional education that gives graduates the possibility to work in a prosperous area with high demand.
Data generated about hearing loss in school children has been used to create governmental awareness by sharing it with the Ministry of Health.
Screening devices are provided together with the training for the specialists to use them in the most adequate and efficient way.
Trainings, workshops, and seminars raise awareness of hearing loss effects and solutions among parents, caregivers, teachers, and others involved with children who have hearing loss. Further workshops help upgrade the skills of the specialists already working in the area.
In Ivory Coast, the situation with hearing loss is also a cause for serious concern. It is estimated that in Ivory Coast, 200,000 children have disabling hearing loss. A further 5,000 children are born with a severe-to-profound hearing loss every year.
Similarly to other developing countries, the situation is influenced by such challenges as shortages of necessary specialists, facilities, and equipment in the hearing healthcare sector. However, the major problem in Ivory Coast is the lack of information about hearing loss, its causes, effects, as well as diagnostic and treatment measures. Raising awareness is therefore the primary goal of the Hearing Healthcare Alliance in Ivory Coast. This, alongside other measures to face challenges in the hearing healthcare system, has been life-changing for many people involved.
To put this ambitious plan into practice, the Hearing Healthcare Alliance found helpful and reliable partners in public and private organizations. Together they have achieved the following:
An academic audiology training program was created and is effectively functioning in accordance with the highest standards. The blended learning program is realized for the specialization in Otology.
Prior to this, the subject was non-existent in the whole of French-speaking Africa. It is especially important that educational programs are based on a blended-learning concept with an intense practical part. International experts share their know-how and transmit it further to spread it wider even after the planned program is completed.
The ENT society introduced a new-born hearing screening program. This program includes providing state-of-the-art screening devices to be used in clinics all over the country. Many specialists are trained to use them in the most efficient way. Through these measures, more than 3000 new-born babies have already been screened.
New strategies and tools have been developed to perform school-screening activities with particular focus on children under the age of 5.
The screening programs provide data for collection and analysis that help to raise awareness and enable further development.
Measures to raise awareness of the situation in the whole spectrum of hearing health have been implemented. Sharing information about hearing loss, its causes, possible consequences, and existing solutions is especially important among people who play an essential role in the rehabilitation process, such as parents, midwives, nurses, and teachers.
Everything achieved in both countries has been highly appreciated, earning the project the 2020 TRIGOS award for International Commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility. One of the most prestigious business awards in Austria, the TRIGOS jury voted for the project’s efforts in contributing to the expansion of essential healthcare infrastructure in Bangladesh and Ivory Coast. They also remarked that the project is brilliantly designed and its social impact is admirable. The jury emphasized that it is an inspirational Best Practice example to the other businesses.
The content on this website is for general informational purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice. Please contact your doctor or hearing specialist to learn what type of hearing solution is suitable for your specific needs. Not all products, features, or indications shown are approved in all countries.