In Rome an event to raise awareness of the importance of hearing health

For the ninth consecutive year, Udito Italia is celebrating World Hearing Day, the largest awareness-raising event on hearing health. On March 1st, representatives of institutions, medical specialists, healthcare professionals, researchers, associations, and businesses will gather in Rome at the Sala della Regina in Palazzo Montecitorio for a long marathon event to spread the message of the World Health Organization (WHO) throughout Italy, which in recent years has sounded a real alarm about the spread of hearing disorders.
For this very purpose, World Hearing Day is celebrated every year on March 3, an event that involves hundreds of countries around the world and which this year focuses on the importance of overcoming the stigmatizing mentalities and misperceptions that still surround hearing disability.

“Changing Mindsets: Let's make ear and hearing care a reality for all”, urge the experts in Geneva, who on the occasion of March 3 call on all governments, health professionals and civil society to mobilize to recognize the importance of information and awareness on the topic of hearing health.
The decreased ability to hear has a profound impact on the lives of people who lose the ability to communicate with others and in children it delays the ability to develop language. This causes frustration and social isolation especially in the elderly. According to the WHO, over a billion and a half people live with some form of hearing disability, 430 million of which are disabling. This figure could rise to over 2 billion in 2050, of which over 700 million are disabling.

This translates into costs to the global economy of $980 billion per year which include healthcare sector expenditures (excluding hearing aids) and social costs, such as educational support and lost productivity.
Despite the widespread prevalence of hearing loss and the availability of effective and affordable treatments, these remain largely inaccessible and hearing loss is still not adequately addressed. Globally, less than 20% of those who could benefit from treatment are able or willing to do so.

Early diagnosis, educational programs and assistive technologies are essential weapons, so much so that the WHO estimates that 50% of cases of hearing loss could be prevented through public health measures. These reflections will be at the center of the event organized by Udito Italia, which has called on experts to discuss four different aspects related to hearing health. In addition to the WHO message on the Day, Working Tables are planned on the following topics: hearing and road safety, impact of environmental acoustic well-being on the individual, health professions: the importance of public health skills in hearing care. The works will be moderated by the president of the non-profit organization, Valentina Faricelli, supported by the journalist Barbara Gasperini.

Present at Montecitorio for institutional greetings will be the Secretary General of the Ministry of Health, Giovanni Leonardi, the Vice President of the Social Affairs Commission of the Chamber, Luciano Ciocchetti, Marcella Marletta, former Director General of Prevention at the Ministry of Health, Teresa Calandra, President of the National Federation of Tsrm and Pstrp Orders and Mauro Menzietti, member of the Steering Committee of the World Hearing Forum, a WHO body.

Guests of honor of the day were cycling champion Francesco Moser and the Modern Pentathlon team world champion Alessandra Frezza, accompanied by the president of the Federation Fabrizio Bittner.

The objective of the event, around which Udito Italia calls upon the entire hearing sector to contribute, is the development of a programmatic document, the Hearing Manifesto, which at the end of the work will be signed by all participants and submitted to the attention of the Minister of Health.