The primary care doctor of the Social Security Fund (CSS), Eduardo Valdebenito, referred this Friday to the campaign called “To listen for life, listen carefully”, which seeks to raise awareness about loud sounds.
He stressed that hearing is one of the most delicate senses that we have in our body, since it allows us to get in touch with the world around us, it serves as an alert in a dangerous situation, in an infant it is basic for their learning.
Loss of it is suspected when babies are spoken to and do not respond by looking for the source of the sound or do not react to loud noises. In adolescents and adults, people feel that they are not listening or the rest let them know.
He specified that, due to the use of devices such as hearing aids, there has been an increase in the risk of hearing loss worldwide.
“One in two young people is at risk of hearing loss due to unsafe listening this year. It is estimated that currently, 466 million people suffer from this disease in the world; 432 million, that is, 93% correspond to adults who are still productive and 34 million, equivalent to 7%, are children”, he highlighted.
In Panama, according to data from the General Comptroller’s Office, 3% of people have this type of disability and 15.6% of that 3% are represented by people who suffer from hearing deficiencies.