On World Hearing Day, 40 centers conduct audio scanning services in Syria

Damascus (ST): World Hearing Day 2023 highlights the importance of integrating ear and hearing care into primary health care services as an essential component of universal health coverage.

The theme of this year’s International Day was “Ear and Hearing Care for Everyone, Let’s Make It Real,” as the World Health Organization will launch a training manual on primary ear and hearing care for health workers and public practitioners. According to the Organization, more than 60 percent of hearing loss problems can be detected. It can be treated at the primary care level, and ear and hearing care can be integrated into primary care services through training and capacity building at this level, which benefits people and helps countries move forward with the goal of universal health coverage.

In Syria, early detection of hearing loss and conducting audiological surveys for newborns are provided through 40 centers in various governorates, according to the Director of Primary Health Care at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Razan Tarabishi.

Tarabishi indicated that the number of children who underwent an audiological survey during the past year amounted to 10,680 children, explaining that cases that require advanced examinations are referred to the hearing investigation centers affiliated with the Ministry, including Damascus Hospital, Al-Assad Medical Complex in Hama, Al-Razi in Aleppo, the Pediatric and Obstetrics Hospital in Latakia, or the hospitals of the ministries of education, higher education and scientific research, defense and the Syrian Organization for Persons with Disabilities “Amal”.

K.Q.