8.5m Nigerians have hearing defects —Expert •Obasanjo, Amosun solicit aid for hearing impaired people

THE chairman, Starkey Hearing Foundation, Dr. Heather Jensen, has said that approximately 8.5 million Nigerians, representing five per cent of the population, have some form of hearing defects, calling for more hearing health epidemiological studies in the country to provide objective estimates of the disease burden.

Jensen, who stated this in Abeokuta, Ogun State, at a training workshop and distribution of free hearing kits to people living with hearing challenges, organised by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Starkey Hearing Foundation, in conjunction with the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation, held at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, cited a recent national survey on hearing impairment and deafness in Nigeria to back up that claim.

According to her, over 80 per cent of people live in areas where there was no access to audiologists, saying this had contributed to increase in the number of people living with hearing challenges, noting that hearing loss has a great potential for a person’s physical and mental health, education and employment as it impedes cognitive growth, social integration and quality of life.

“Starkey Hearing Foundation gives the gift of hearing to people in need in the country and around the world, and we believe that hearing is a vehicle to reflect caring and improve the lives of individuals, their families and communities at large”, she said.

Speaking at the event, former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and the Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, have solicited aid for people living with hearing impairment and the underprivileged, for them to be useful to themselves and contribute meaningfully to the society.

The former president, who was represented by his wife, Mrs. Bola Obasanjo, said  the hearing device would go a long way in raising their hopes of functioning like normal humans, thus enabling them utilise their potentials for the benefit of the  society.

In his opening speech, the Ogun State governor, represented by the state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye, said people needed to jettison the erroneous belief that ear problem was an act of God, saying that many hearing challenges could be solved by medical intervention, just as he urged the Federal Government to give attention to audiological aspect of medicine in order to make life more meaningful to people with hearing impairment.

The governor added that the present administration had prioritised health care services for residents of the state as a think-tank approach was adopted at enhancing the health of the people.