Concerns about increasing exposure to loud sounds in leisure venues such as nightclubs, discos, pubs, bars, cinemas, concerts, sporting events and even gyms are growing. With the popularisation of technology, some devices, such as audio devices, are often heard at harmful volumes and over long periods of time. This often poses a serious risk of irreversible hearing loss.
In this paper, the World Health Organization reviews the causes of hearing loss and how to make it risk-free, and provides examples of government measures and public information campaigns that have helped raise public awareness of the need for responsible and safe hearing practices.
Hearing is a very valuable faculty and hearing damage caused by excessive noise is irreversible. Hearing loss impairs the overall quality of life of those individuals and increases the cost of health care to society. Noise-induced hearing loss is preventable, so more effort should be invested in preventing it.
©FIAPAS 2015