The National Health Service (NHS), working with a number of national organizations including the Local Government Association, public health experts, and industry associations, has co-authored a guide to help regions across England understand and improve local hearing provision, the British Irish Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (BIHIMA) announced.
According to BIHIMA, the new guide will help regions across England tackle the major and growing public health challenge that unaddressed hearing loss has become.
The Hearing Loss Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) guide presents evidence on the prevalence and impact of hearing loss. The guide also includes a hearing loss data tool which shows how many local people are estimated to have a hearing loss in all regions across England, both now and in the future.
Paul Surridge, BIHIMA Chairman, said, “With 3 million people living with an untreated, disabling hearing loss in the UK we face urgent public health and social issues. The proven benefit of hearing technology to change lives is undisputed. We hope these new resources will help tackle the major challenge untreated hearing loss has become in England, ensuring more people can access hearing instruments in the future.”
The NHS hopes that these key resources will help “support local authorities and NHS commissioners to meet their statutory duties to assess the needs of local populations, take account of health inequalities, advance equality, and commission high-quality services to meet local hearing needs and improve public health.”
Source: BIHIMA, NHS
Image: BIHIMA, NHS
