Starkey Hearing Foundation Gives Gift of Hearing to Central Americans
An estimated 3,500 adults and children in Central America will be receiving the gift of hearing. This spring, The Starkey Hearing Foundation is touring Nicaragua, Guatemala, Venezuela and Mexico to deliver some 6,000 hearing aids to people in need.
The Foundation completed other similar mission trips in November and December 2005 which gifted 4,000 patients with hearing aids. Since 2000, the Foundation has provided more than 130,000 hearing aids to those in need around the world. Visit www.sotheworldmayhear.org for more information.
Breaking Barriers Without Breaking a Sweat
Calling it the most successful-ever start to a United Kingdom (UK) health promotion initiative, a national charity that challenged people to check their hearing by telephone was overwhelmed with more than 150,000 people calling in the week between Christmas and New Year’s, with some 5,500 calls daily since then.
A survey revealed that half of the UK’s adults believe that embarrassment prevents people with hearing loss from seeking help. Royal National Institute for the Deaf’s “Breaking the Sound Barrier” campaign therefore allows people to call a number from the privacy of their own homes. Callers are first greeted by a recorded message from British television personality Eamonn Holmes and then asked to listen to various voice recordings of three numbers played against rising levels of background music. Callers use the telephone keypad to select the numbers they think they hear and are then told whether their hearing is within normal range, below-normal or well-below-normal. Those with well-below-normal hearing are urged to contact their general practitioner to ask to be referred for a thorough hearing test. For the UK phone number and more information, log on to www.rnid.org.uk.
Germany Launches Newborn Hearing Screening Program
In an effort to reduce the long-term economic effects of untreated hearing loss, the German Health Ministry is launching several pilot programs in a number of provinces to implement newborn hearing screening, reports www.hear-it.org. The programs have built-in mechanisms to evaluate efficacy and economic benefits.
The current initiatives are the result of much advocacy from German hearing healthcare professionals as there is no national program in place in Germany, where the average age for the detection of congenital hearing loss is 2.5 years. According to the German Health Ministry, between 80,000 and 150,000 German children suffer from moderate hearing loss and approximately 80,000 children suffer from hearing loss so severe that they must attend special schools.
EU Establishes Directive Against Workplace Noise
A recent European Union (EU) directive calls for tougher limitations of noise in the workplace. The laws and regulations of all EU countries must meet the standards set by the noise directive, which went into effect on February 15, 2006. The EU directive sets a daily noise exposure limit value of 87 decibels (dB). This represents a tightening of noise regulations in several countries with current noise exposure limits at 90 dB. In workplaces where the noise levels are above 87 dB, the directive compels companies to take measures to lower the noise. In the event that noise levels cannot be adequately reduced, employees must be provided with hearing protection.
For more information, visit the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work at http://agency.osha.eu.int/publications/ factsheets/58/en/index.htm.
Cambridge Student Wins Deafness Research Prize
A Cambridge University student has won the 2006 Pauline Ashley Prize for deafness research, reports the University of Cambridge Press. Karolina Kluk, a third-year Ph.D. student, is trying to develop the first objective means of testing for dead or wasted regions of the ear in small children, so that hearing aids can be programmed to only amplify sound to the parts of the cochlea which are still functioning normally. Testing is particularly difficult in infants since they cannot give responses and this successful research project would alleviate a complexity in early hearing intervention.
Hazardous Noise Levels Rise in Bogotá
Noise levels are rising in Bogotá and so are complaints from local citizens who are bombarded by excessive noise day and night. Nightclubs, bars and discos are the primary noise culprits after dark, with noise levels frequently above the 85-dB level. Other noise sources are private parties with loud music played until dawn, music played at full blast on car stereos, the sounds of elevators, alarms and neighbors shouting. Colombian authorities cite several factors contributing to the high noise levels, such as the airport, growing population, alcohol and high levels of unemployment and illiteracy. Spanish speakers visit www.eltiempo.com.co for more. n
