Today is World Hearing Day.
The focus of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2023 World Hearing Day campaign highlights the importance of integrating ear and hearing care within primary care for all. According to the WHO, over 60% of ear and hearing issues can be identified and addressed at the primary level of care.
In support of World Hearing Day, the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association believes that the integration of ear and hearing care into Canada’s primary care services is a necessity and is possible through training and capacity building at this level. This integration would provide significant benefits to improve access and quality of care for people who currently live with hearing loss and for those who may experience it in the years to come. We believe the WHO findings, along with the large number of Canadians with hearing loss (over 4 million and growing) provides enough evidence that hearing health needs to be part of our universal health coverage.
CHHA continues to focus our mandate on supporting individuals with hearing loss across Canada; this includes ensuring that we are at the table for the development of programming and policies that support Hard of Hearing Canadians.
I’m pleased to announce that CHHA has partnered with several organizations to create the Hearing Health Alliance of Canada, an initiative that is aligned with this year’s WHD theme and focus. The Hearing Health Alliance of Canada comprises the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association, Wavefront Centre for Communication Accessibility, Association of Hearing Instrument Practitioners of Ontario, Canadian Academy of Audiology, Canadian Hearing Instrument Practitioners Society, Cochlear Canada Inc., Hearing Industry Association of Canada and Speech-Language & Audiology Canada.
The HHAC is focused on raising awareness of the impact of unmanaged hearing loss, the need for prevention of hearing loss, and the urgency to act towards building a national strategy for hearing health. This includes advocacy for the development of a Canadian hearing health strategy.
We need your help to take meaningful action today to ensure that all Canadians with hearing loss experience an optimal quality of life. Read the full report here and explore more on the HHAC site here.