KARACHI: Estimated two million people in Karachi are facing hearing impairment and most of them could not be treated due to lack of facilities and increasing noisy atmosphere in the megalopolis.
Eminent Audiologist Shahid Akhtar Rajput, while talking to PPI, said though there was no accurate data available about hearing impairment or hearing loss, but estimated 10 to 15 per cent of Karachi population is suffering from mild, moderate and severe hearing loss due to multiple factors.
“Generally, the hearing disability occurs in the society due to the trend of inter-family marriages, but sound of generators, vehicles and factories are also leading risk factors of hearing loss,” he added.
He explained that citizens suffering from hearing loss could face psychological and physical problems in some stages of life if not treated.
Rajput said age-related hearing loss is also common in Pakistan as it gradually occurs in most of people after 45 years. He said it is one of the most common conditions affecting elderly people and age-related hearing loss most often occurs in both ears, affecting them equally if not treated properly.
He said some professionals, including lawyers, airport security officials, factory workers, traffic police wardens and journalists, could suffer hearing loss in same stages of life as they work in noisy atmosphere.
Audiologist Shahid Rajput said: “Karachi has been facing acute shortage of audiologists as hardly 20 to 50 audiologists are available for whole population of the city. Karachi needs 5000 qualified audiologists to cater to the citizens with hearing impairment.”
He demanded of Sindh government to appoint audiologists in district headquarter hospitals all over Sindh province to treat preventable hearing loss.