The inaugural World Report on Hearing: From barriers to a platform for change
Catherine McMahon, Carrie L. Nieman, Peter R. Thorne, Susan D. Emmett, Mahmood F. Bhutta
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.