Is your child hearing you?

Photo: Filepic/The Star

THE quiet yet profound challenge of hearing loss affects people of all ages, even our youngest. Childhood hearing loss isn’t just a concern, it’s a pressing public health issue with far- reaching consequences for a child’s growth and happiness.

The World Health Organisation recently assessed over 34 million children worldwide and discovered that hearing loss predominantly impacts those in low-to-middle income countries. In Malaysia, the prevalence of hearing loss varies across age groups: it is 3.5% among teenagers aged 13 to 17, 6.6% among children aged seven to12, and 6.6% among toddlers aged three to six. These statistics are alarming because many cases of hearing loss are preventable.