KARACHI: The Rotary Club, Karachi, and Taaj Welfare Organization have decided to observe this year as a “Hearing Awareness Year” with the aim to educate the general public about the causes of hearing impairment.
This was announced by the Rotary Club district governor Dr Farhan Essa and Taaj Welfare Organization chairman Shahid Akhter Rajput at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club.
Rotary Club assistant governor Hanif Khan and audiologist Nuzhat Shahid also spoke on the occasion.
Audiologist Shahid Akhtar said although there was no accurate data available about hearing impairment or hearing loss, yet an estimated 80 percent of the population of Pakistan above 45 years of age was suffering from mild, moderate and severe hearing loss due to multiple factors.
He said that generally hearing disability occurred in the society due to the trend of inter-family marriages. However, noise of generators, vehicles and factories were also considered to be the leading risk factors of hearing loss.
Audiologist Shahid Rajput said Karachi had been facing an acute shortage of audiologists as hardly 20 to 50 audiologists were available in the city.
He said the city needed 500 qualified audiologists to cater to the needs of the people with hearing impairment.
Dr Farhan Essa announced organizing of public awareness workshops, seminars, medical camps and other awareness activities this year to understand the problems being faced by the people who were living with hearing impairment in society.
He stressed the need for introducing screening tests for the newly-born babies to prevent hearing disabilities in Pakistan.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021