Opening Remarks at the Regional Workshop on Strengthening Ear and Hearing care in the South-East Asia

Good morning to you all. 

An estimated 401 million people in the WHO South-East Asia Region live with some degree of hearing loss. 

More than 110 million of them require rehabilitation services. 

By 2030, without stronger action, the number of people living with hearing loss will rise to nearly 480 million. 

Hearing shapes how we learn, work, communicate, and connect. 

It is central to healthy ageing and quality of life. 

Yet hearing loss remains one of the Region’s most common, and most overlooked, public health challenges. 

This is not just a health issue. 

It is a development issue, an education issue, an economic issue, and, above all, an equity issue. 

Millions are shut out of school, work, and community life for one simple reason: they lack access to essential ear and hearing care services. 

This is largely preventable. 

More than 60% of hearing loss can be avoided through proven public health interventions: immunization, quality maternal and newborn care, safe listening practices, early detection, and timely treatment. 

Since Member States adopted the World Health Assembly resolution on Prevention of deafness and hearing loss in 2017, WHO has developed the guidance and tools to act: 

• the World Report on Hearing, 

• the H.E.A.R.I.N.G. package, and

• the Integrated People-centred Ear and Hearing Care framework. 

These all provide Member States with practical guidance to integrate ear and hearing care into national health systems and, importantly, into primary health care. 

With the International Telecommunications Union, we have developed global standards for safe listening devices and systems, and for safe listening in video gameplay and esports. 

We have also developed a global standard for safe listening venues and events.  

These provide guidance to governments, the private sector, and all stakeholders to build safer listening into everyday life, so that people can enjoy sound without harm. 

We must now translate guidance into action. 

This means strengthening primary health care and investing in early identification and screening across the life course. 

Just as critical are ensuring timely access to hearing technologies and rehabilitation, building a skilled workforce, and improving data systems. 

And it means making ear and hearing care an integral part of universal health coverage. 

One clear opportunity lies in the integration of vision and hearing care. 

The two share risk factors. 

Both require people-centred service delivery. 

And both benefit from integrated screening, particularly for newborns, children, older people, and people living with chronic diseases. 

Delivering integrated services will improve efficiency, while expanding access to care for those who need it most. 

We have much to learn from one another. The diversity of our Region is one of our greatest strengths, and peer learning has always been a catalyst for progress. 

I encourage you to openly share experiences, innovations, and challenges. 

I urge you to review the latest WHO tools and applications. Explore digital technologies, assistive products, and other innovations.  

And, above all, develop practical country action plans that can guide implementation.