World Hearing Day 2024: All You Need To Know About Its Significance & Theme

Every year March 3 is observed as World Hearing Day. This day spreads awareness regarding safe listening and hearing loss and tells how to maintain good hearing. Hearing helps people to connect with others and allows us to hear everything around us whether bad or good. According to WHO, more than 360 million people live with hearing loss or deafness whereas around 1 billion people or more aged between 12 to 35 are at risk of hearing loss due to noise exposure. Noise exposure is used to measure the risk of noise-induced hearing loss in the workplace.

The theme of World Hearing Day 2024

The theme of World Hearing Day 2024 is 'Hear the Future: Investing in Youth Hearing Health.' This theme conveys the significance of prioritising hearing among young people and addressing risk factors that can be responsible for hearing loss such as unsafe listening practices, excessive noise etc. By promoting preventive measures early, we can lower the impact of hearing loss and ensure a brighter future for youths.

Importance of World Hearing Day

On this day various organizations, communities, institutions and government celebrate World Hearing Day and convey its impact on our lives through educational workshops, seminars, etc. These events provide opportunities for healthcare professionals, policymakers, educators and community members to come together to learn about various aspects of hearing which include prevention, early detection, treatment options, etc.

History of World Hearing Day

The World Health Organization (WHO) initiated this day. It was first observed on March 3, 2007. The WHO drew attention to the importance of Hearing Day and raised awareness about hearing loss worldwide. World Hearing Day has been sponsored by the Office for the Prevention of Deafness and Blindness of the WHO. In 2017, the World Health Assembly adopted the Prevention of Deafness decision, which highlights deafness and hearing health as public health concerns.