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Kathmandu Thursday July 19, 2001 Shrawan 04, 2058.
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WHO for slashing
hearing-aid prices
KATHMANDU, July 18 (PR) - World Health
Organisation (WHO) set up a task force to help find ways to slash hearing-aid prices in
developing countries.
WHO says the current cost of hearing-aid in
developing countries ranges from US $ 200 to US $ 500 and it wants to see them cut down to
US $ 10-20 per hearing aid to put them within reach of the poor.
"At least 250 million people globally
have hearing loss and two-third of them live in developing countries and hearing loss is
one of the most neglected disabilities," said Dr. Andrew Smith, WHO medical officer
responsible for the UN agency’s deafness campaign.
He also said that hearing problems in
developing countries are often worse than in the industrialised world because basic
medical problems cannot be easily treated.
"Middle-ear infection , from which many
children suffer, can cause long-term hearing loss if not treated. Meningitis which is
particularly common in South Africa is another problem."
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