Miss-Delectable

Deaf alarm - Fiji Times Online

FIJI has the highest number of deaf people in the South Pacific 51,321 people out of a population of 918,675 are deaf or have a hearing impairment.

The statistics, provided by Carabez Alliance, also show that of the estimated deaf population, 17,449 are children.

Carabez Alliance founder Bronwyn Carabez said the deaf population made up 6 per cent of the total population.

Solomon Islands came second with 27,463 deaf people followed by New Caledonia with 13,864.

Ms Carabez, whose organisation focuses on providing learning opportunities for hearing impaired children and their families, said there had been no comprehensive report done in the South Pacific region, so they relied on data by the World Health Organisation compiled in 2006.

She said the Alliance was formed in 2004 with the aim to provide deaf children of Fiji and the Pacific with audiological support, assisting them to achieve their full potential in education and attain life skills.

She said one major cause of deafness in the region was chronic ear infection which people did not get treatment for.

"They don't get it treated instantly and over the years they completely lose their sense of hearing," she said.

"That's very common in the South Pacific."

Ms Carabez said while people were also born deaf, one common cause of deafness in the region was meningitis.

"It's those who had high fever which kills the cells in the cochlea and it makes them completely deaf."

Ms Carabez founded the Alliance with her husband Jeff after their daughter Virginia, now 19 years old, was diagnosed as being moderate-severely deaf when she was three.

The Alliance, in collaboration with the Western Union Foundation, has launched a train-the-trainers program to deliver sustainable improvements in the education of hearing-impaired children in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.

The first training was held in Cuvu Village with the blessings of the Ka Levu, Ratu Sakiusa Makutu.

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