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W.Java records high number of people with hearing problems
An ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist with the Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung, West Java, has said that 2.5 percent of around 47 million people in the province suffer from hearing problems.
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For your health – An ear, nose and throat specialist cleans the ear of a patient with hearing problems in a charity event in Bandung, West Java, on Wednesday. Around 1,000 hearing aids were distributed to people with hearing problems from Bandung and its surrounding areas. (thejakartapost.com/Arya Dipa)
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n ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist with the Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung, West Java, has said 2.5 percent of around 47 million people in the province suffer from hearing problems.
“There are 1 million cases of hearing problems, which is quite high,” the hospital’s ENT department head, Ratna Anggraeni, in Bandung, on Wednesday.
Nationally, the specialist said, 5.3 percent of Indonesians aged between 15 and 54 years old suffered from hearing problems. Along with a continuous increase in people’s life expectancy in the country, 59.4 percent of the population aged 55 and above experienced hearing problems, she went on.
Ratna said birth defects, heavy noise exposure and age increases were among the major causes of hearing problems. Medical reasons, such as infections and ear wax, could also lead to the problems although they could be cured without surgery, she added.
“Hearing problems can occur along with an increase in age. Usually, people aged 75 and above will suffer hearing problems because their nerves are affected,” said Ratna.
She said hearing aids could help patients with hearing problems carry out daily activities. “But some people cannot afford hearing aids,” she added. (ebf)
