World Hearing Day is a campaign held each year by Office of Prevention of Blindness and Deafness of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

(WHO). Activities take place across the globe and an event is hosted at the World Health Organization in Geneva annually on March 3. The campaign's objectives are to share information and promote actions towards the prevention of

hearing loss Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spo ...

and improved hearing care. Any individual or organization can participate in various ways, by sharing campaign materials and organizing outreach actions. Examples are provided in the World Hearing Day annual activitie
reports
For participation to be recognized, one needs to register and report on their activit

The first event was held in 2015. Before then it was known as International Ear Care Day. Each year, the WHO selects a theme, develops educational materials, and makes these freely available in several languages. It also coordinates and reports on events around the globe.

2025

For 2025, the theme of the campaign is
Empower yourself
encouraging individuals to take steps to ensure good hearing in all stages of life. This focus is a new angle of the theme of th
2024 World Hearing Day
"Changing mindsets".

2024

Th
2024 World Hearing Day
campaign will concentrate on overcoming challenges posed by societal misperceptions and stigmatizing mindsets through awareness-raising and information-sharing targeted at the public and healthcare providers. The chosen theme for 2024 is "Changing mindsets: let's make ear and hearing care a reality for all!". WHO has emphasized that over 80% of people globally who require hearing care are not receiving it. This situation incurs an estimated cost of US$1 trillion related to unaddressed hearing loss.

2023

The theme for 2023 and subsequent years is "Ear and hearing care for all! Let's make it a reality". A new training manual
Primary ear and hearing care training manual for health workers and general practitioners
was released on March 3, 2023, and it is accompanied by
trainer's handbook
and other community resources.
video by WHO's director-general

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (, sometimes spelled ; born 3 March 1965) is an Ethiopian public health official, researcher, diplomat, and the DGWHO, Director-General of the World Health Organization since 2017. He is the first African to become W ...

explains the effort. Wiki4WorldHearingDay2023 an

edit-a-thon An edit-a-thon (sometimes written editathon) is an event where some editors of online communities such as Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap (also known as a " mapathon"), and LocalWiki edit and improve a specific topic or type of content. The events typ ...

, was part of the 2023 activities of the campaign, to facilitate the contribution of hearing-related content into Wikipedia in several languages. Activities were reported in a Wikimedia dashboard. WHO-world-hearing-day-2023 with text

2022

The theme of
World Hearing Day 2022
was "''To hear for life, listen with care.''" Key messages and information focused on the importance and means of preventing hearing loss from recreational sounds through

safe listening Safe listening is a Conceptual framework, framework for health promotion actions to ensure that sound-related recreational activities (such as Concert, concerts, nightclubs, and listening to music, broadcasts, or podcasts) do not pose a risk to ...

. During World Hearing Day 2022 these resources were launched: *
Global standard for safe listening entertainment venues and events
detailing safe listening features. The features can be implemented by governments, venue and event owners, and event staff such as audio engineers. * a
''mSafeListening'' handbook
on how to create an mHealth safe listening program. * and a medi
toolkit for journalists containing key information and how to talk about safe listening

2021

The theme of the campaign for 2021 was "''Hearing Care for All.''" The launch of th
World Report on Hearing (WRH)
took place on March 3, 2021, during an event at the World Health Organization in Geneva. It was a global call for action to address hearing loss and ear diseases across the life cours

2020

The theme of the campaign for 2020 was "''Hearing for Life. Don't let hearing loss limit you''".

Previous years

2019: The theme of the campaign for 2019 was "''Check your hearing''" as data from both developed and developing countries indicate that a significant part of the burden associated with hearing loss comes from unaddressed hearing difficulties. A study conducted in the United Kingdom indicate that only 20% of those who have a hearing problem seek treatment. A study performed in South Africa reported that individuals who experience hearing difficulties wait between 5 and 16 years to seek diagnosis and treatment. Two hundred and ninety one events/activities from 81 countries were registered, and will be described in their annual report. For the celebration, on February 25, 2019, WHO launche
hearWHO
a free application for mobile devices which allows people to check their hearing regularly and intervene early in case of hearing loss. The app is targeted at those who are at risk of hearing loss or who already experience some of the symptoms related to hearing loss. metawiki:Wiki4WorldHearingDay2019, Wiki4WorldHearingDay2019, an

, was part of the 2019 activities of the campaign, to facilitate the contribution of hearing-related content into Wikipedia in several languages. Activities were reported in a Wikimedia dashboard and summarized a few publications. In addition, a Meet-up took place with presentations by researchers from HEAR in Cincinnati, from the

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH, ) is the List of United States federal agencies, United States federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related occ ...

, the

National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

and National Center for Environmental Health, of the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency under the United S ...

, by the Wikipedian-in-Residence from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the Wikipedia Consultant for Cochrane. 2018: The theme of World Hearing Day 2018 was "''Hear the future''

2017: The theme of World Hearing Day 2017 was "''Action for hearing loss: make a sound investment''", which focused on the economic impact of hearing los

2016: The theme of World Hearing Day 2016 was "''Childhood hearing loss: act now, here is how''!". 2015: The theme for World Hearing Day was "''Make Listening Safe''".

References

External links

, Prevention of Blindness and Deafness
World Hearing Day.
* A recording fo
2019 meetup
for the Wiki4WorldHearingDay2019 campaign.
World Hearing Day registration website

Make Listening Safe
initiative by the World Health Organization to promote safe listening practices * World Health Organization
Short videos
on World Hearing Day materials, available in six languages. * Prasheek Times ({{usurped,
link
}): https://prasheektimes.com/world-hearing-day-3rd-march/ * Global Audiology,

International Society of Audiology The International Society of Audiology (ISA) was founded in 1952 to "facilitate the knowledge, protection and rehabilitation of human hearing" and to "serve as an advocate for the profession and for the hearing impaired throughout the world". It s ...

World Health Organization Hearing Audiology Health promotion Health awareness days Health campaigns