MED-EL launches campaign to promote greater hearing health globally.
March 3, 2017 – (DURHAM, NC) – To mark World Hearing Day 2017, MED-EL, a leading provider of hearing implant solutions, is launching a global campaign to raise awareness of the importance of hearing health and addressing potential issues early. A campaign film, Moment of Silence, has been launched to illustrate that while there are moments in life when hearing matters, there are some when hearing is everything, with once-in-a-lifetime sounds you would never want to miss.
Hearing loss affects more than 5% of the world’s population with 360 million people currently living with disabling hearing loss worldwide.[i] Many more people are unaware they have a problem with their hearing and remain undiagnosed. The 2017 theme for World Hearing Day is “Action for hearing loss: make a sound investment,” highlighting the impact of hearing loss on both individuals and society, while drawing attention to different interventions to address it.
“Hearing empowers us and enriches our lives and we have come a long way in enabling more and more people to overcome hearing loss as a barrier to communication. More needs to be done however, particularly to improve global access to and awareness of the full range hearing solutions available to people living with hearing loss. Science and technology have been at the forefront of MED-EL’s commitment to people with hearing loss since day one, and we are committed to continuing to raise awareness of this growing issue and encourage people to protect their invaluable sense of hearing," said Professor Ingeborg Hochmair, MED-EL CEO.
The World Health Organization estimates that the financial cost of hearing loss is $750 billion dollars every year, but the cost is also personal and contributes to an individual’s overall health. Untreated hearing loss affects communication and can lead to social isolation, anxiety, depression and cognitive decline. One in five people with hearing loss would benefit from hearing solutions such as hearing aids or hearing implants.
Visit Moment of Silence to view the MED-EL video, get information and test your hearing online.
About World Hearing Day 2017
World Hearing Day is an annual advocacy event initiated by the World Health Organization. The theme for World Hearing Day 2017, “Action for hearing loss: make a sound investment,” draws attention to the economic impact of hearing loss. Unaddressed hearing loss poses a high cost for the economy globally and has a significant impact on the lives of those affected. Interventions to address hearing loss are available and are cost-effective.
Prevention, screening for early identification, rehabilitation through hearing devices, captioning and sign language education are among the strategies which can mitigate hearing loss and its consequences. World Hearing Day 2017 highlights actions which can be undertaken by decision-makers to address hearing loss. For more information visit: www.who.int/pbd/deafness/world
About MED-EL
Austria-based MED-EL Medical Electronics is a leading provider of hearing implant systems with 29 subsidiaries worldwide. The family-owned business is one of the pioneers in the industry. The two Austrian scientists Ingeborg and Erwin Hochmair developed the world’s first microelectronic-multichannel cochlear implant, now considered the modern cochlear implant, which was implanted in 1977. The cochlear implant was and remains the first replacement of a human sense, the sense of hearing. In 1990 the Hochmairs laid the foundation for the successful growth of the company when they hired their first employees. To date, the company has grown to more than 1,700 employees around the world.
MED-EL offers the widest range of implantable solutions worldwide to treat various degrees of hearing loss: cochlear and middle ear implant systems, and EAS (combined Electric Acoustic Stimulation) hearing implant system. In July 2016, MED-EL acquired the technology for a novel non-surgical bone conduction system from the Swedish medical device company Otorix, further expanding the number of people who can benefit from innovative hearing technology and reinforcing MED-EL’s mission to overcome hearing loss as a barrier to communication. People in over 100 countries enjoy the gift of hearing with the help of a product from MED-EL. www.medel.com or the MED-EL Expo Page on AudiologyOnline.
[i]World Health Organization (WHO). Childhood Hearing Loss: Act Now, Here is How! Brochure (2016). https://www.who.int/pbd/deafnes
