HEALTH experts are warning the public in Gibraltar on how hearing loss can lead to severe depression in a local lecture.
Mr. Chiti-Batelli, an ENT Consultant at the Gibraltar Health Authority (GHA) will talk about what causes hearing loss, how to treat and manage the condition.
The hearing expert will address the impact losing this key sense has to the individual and society as a whole.
Chiti-Batelli will give the lecture on March 17 at John Mackintosh Hall theatre.
“Over 190 million people in the European region live with some degree of hearing loss,” the World Health Organisation said.
“This figure is projected to rise to over 230 million by 2050.
“Ear and hearing problems are among the most common health issues, and 60% of them can be identified and addressed at the primary level of care.”
The GHA is concerned how hearing health ‘remains a neglected aspect of overall physical health awareness’.
“It leads to some serious medical, social, professional and psychological issues, such as memory loss, social isolation and severe depression,” the GHA said.
A third of people over 65-years-old are affected by disabling hearing loss.
Yet 60% of pediatric partial or complete deafness is preventable, the GHA said.
The Gibraltar Hearing Issues & Tinnitus Association (GHITA) worked with the GHA and Public Health Gibraltar to put on the talk.
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