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Hearing loss falling on deaf ears | Stuff.co.nz
Hearing loss affects as many as one in six New Zealanders, and Hearing Association Manawatu president Dick Earle is frustrated that a problem that can be fixed is largely ignored.
"We are struggling for money, and we see a lot of people end up as hermits because of their hearing loss.
"It is such a shame, because it is unnecessary, but people can't afford the hearing aids."
The association's field officer visits rest home residents to help assess hearing problems, but the subsidy of $500 every six years for a hearing aid was not enough for most people.
The most common hearing aid recommended by ACC costs $4000.
Dr Earle estimated 600,000 New Zealanders suffer in silence, based on Britain's Royal Foundation for the Deaf's adoption of "One in Seven" as the name of its magazine. The latest New Zealand research, 10 years old, is that one in ten Kiwis have hearing problems, or about 450,000 people.
Dr Earle said that estimate was "ridiculously conservative".
National Foundation for the Deaf chief executive Louise Carroll believes the Australian estimate last year of one in six is nearer the mark. That is 727,000 people.
"It is a measure of how much we neglect the hearing impaired in New Zealand that we don't even have precise numbers on how many New Zealanders are affected," she said.
Every person who suffered hearing loss affected about eight or more people who lived with them or worked with them as they had to change their behaviour to keep communication going, she said.
Dr Earle said it was the biggest health issue the country faced.
"There is a basic health deficiency of major proportions. And it is a problem that should be within our capacity to solve.
"Hearing aids are much more critical than all the money we are putting into diabetes. It's not that I'm against spending on diabetes, but this is a bigger scourge."
He has tried to encourage New Zealand to adopt an Australian approach to hearing loss, that entitles anyone over 65 to $1500, which covers the cost of an audiology appointment and helps pay for hearing aids that are basic but effective.
Hearing loss affects as many as one in six New Zealanders, and Hearing Association Manawatu president Dick Earle is frustrated that a problem that can be fixed is largely ignored.
"We are struggling for money, and we see a lot of people end up as hermits because of their hearing loss.
"It is such a shame, because it is unnecessary, but people can't afford the hearing aids."
The association's field officer visits rest home residents to help assess hearing problems, but the subsidy of $500 every six years for a hearing aid was not enough for most people.
The most common hearing aid recommended by ACC costs $4000.
Dr Earle estimated 600,000 New Zealanders suffer in silence, based on Britain's Royal Foundation for the Deaf's adoption of "One in Seven" as the name of its magazine. The latest New Zealand research, 10 years old, is that one in ten Kiwis have hearing problems, or about 450,000 people.
Dr Earle said that estimate was "ridiculously conservative".
National Foundation for the Deaf chief executive Louise Carroll believes the Australian estimate last year of one in six is nearer the mark. That is 727,000 people.
"It is a measure of how much we neglect the hearing impaired in New Zealand that we don't even have precise numbers on how many New Zealanders are affected," she said.
Every person who suffered hearing loss affected about eight or more people who lived with them or worked with them as they had to change their behaviour to keep communication going, she said.
Dr Earle said it was the biggest health issue the country faced.
"There is a basic health deficiency of major proportions. And it is a problem that should be within our capacity to solve.
"Hearing aids are much more critical than all the money we are putting into diabetes. It's not that I'm against spending on diabetes, but this is a bigger scourge."
He has tried to encourage New Zealand to adopt an Australian approach to hearing loss, that entitles anyone over 65 to $1500, which covers the cost of an audiology appointment and helps pay for hearing aids that are basic but effective.
