Global burden of childhood hearing impairment and disease control priorities for developing countries

• Published in: The Lancet (British edition) Vol. 369; no. 9569; pp. 1314 - 1317
• Main Authors: Olusanya, Bolajoko O, Dr, Newton, Valerie E, Prof
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 14.04.2007; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adult; Adults; Babies; Child; Child, Preschool; Children; Children & youth; Cognitive development; Congenital diseases; Developing Countries; Disease control; Eradication; Health education; Health Priorities; Health risk assessment; Health services; Hearing loss; Hearing Loss - classification; Hearing Loss - etiology; Hearing Loss - therapy; Humans; Immunization; Industrialized nations; Infant mortality; Infectious diseases; Initiatives; Internal Medicine; Language; Language acquisition; LDCs; Learning disabilities; Linguistics; Medical screening; Obstetrics; Preschool children; Resource allocation; Rubella; Severity of Illness Index; Social isolation; Speech
• ISSN: 0140-6736; 1474-547X
• DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60602-3

For example, in 1995, the World Health Assembly passed a resolution on the prevention and control of major causes of avoidable hearing impairment and for early detection of hearing loss in babies, toddlers, and children, as well as in the elderly, within the framework of primary health care.11 This resolution was predicated on concerns about the growing problem of disabling but largely preventable hearing impairment worldwide (affecting an estimated 120 million people in 1995) and the recognition of its adverse consequences for optimum childhood development, especially for language acquisition and educational achievement.