Significance of World Hearing Day
Ear and hearing problems are among the most common problems encountered in the community.
World Hearing Day is held on 3 March each year to raise awareness on how to prevent deafness and hearing loss and promote ear and hearing care across the world. Each year, World Health Organmisation (WHO) decides the theme and develops evidence-based advocacy materials such as brochures, flyers, posters, banners, infographics and presentations, among others.
These materials are shared with partners in government and civil society around the world as well as WHO regional and country offices.
At its headquarters in Geneva, WHO organizes an annual World Hearing Day event.
In recent years, an increasing number of Member States and other partner agencies have joined World Hearing Day by hosting a range of activities and events in their countries.
WHO invites all stakeholders to join this global initiative.
World Hearing Day 2023 will highlight the importance of integrating ear and hearing care within primary care, as an essential component of universal health coverage
Key messages
Ear and hearing problems are among the most common problems encountered in the community.
Over 60 per cent of these can be identified and addressed at the primary level of care.
Integration of ear and hearing care into primary care services is possible through training and capacity building at this level.
Such integration will benefit people and help countries move towards the goal of universal health coverage. On this day, WHO will launch a new training manual - Primary ear and hearing care training manual.
The manual will be accompanied with trainer’s handbook and other community resources.
This manual is a practical guide on the prevention, identification, and management of hearing loss and common ear diseases that lead to hearing loss.
It is intended mainly for health workers and doctors who work at primary care level and provide services to people either at health facilities or in communities.
It is intended to be administered by a trainer/instructor familiar with ear and hearing problems, their assessment and management, and is accompanied by a trainer’s handbook.
The manual comprises a series of stand-alone modules. Trainer’s handbook which accompanies the Primary ear and hearing.This handbook is intended for use by those involved in training health workers or in coordinating programmes for delivering ear and hearing care.
The training manual is accompanied by community resources that can be printed and used for raising awareness in the community.