More and more popular. YouTube tutorials are devoted to him, the American football coach Nic Saban or the French minister in charge of disabled people display it at the edge of the field or at the National Assembly… We are talking about the transparent mask. The one who, while protecting from the coronavirus, allows better communication, especially for the deaf and hard of hearing who read lips.
The problem: still high prices hamper their "democratization".
Governments take up the issue
To avoid resorting to a random D system, governments are tackling the issue by issuing approvals or placing orders.
Quebec has ordered 100,000 masks to distribute them in the health network, according to local media. The association of people with a hearing impairment (APDA) has ordered 100,000 washable masks with transparent windows from the Quebec company Madolaine. "The sales are done very quickly", assures the director of the association, Marie-Hélène Tremblay.
In France, Anissa Mekrabech, who is deaf, had the idea of creating a prototype of a transparent mask. She co-founded the company ASA Initia, based in Toulouse, and forged a partnership with the Association des Paralysés de France to develop and market the “inclusive mask”. The first to be approved in France, with 20,000 orders to date, it has been joined by a second model, the “smile mask” from Odiora, a company from Lyon (center-east). Two more should be approved soon, according to the French government.
As for the associations, Stéphane Lenoir, coordinator of the Collectif Handicaps in France, welcomes "a step forward" but "raises the question of the generalization and the cost" of these masks. It costs 10.90 to 15 euros per unit in France, the equivalent of 9.27 euros in Quebec and 56.50 euros for a set of 24 masks from the American ClearMask.
"To serve for the common good"
Matthieu Annereau, president in France of the National Association for the Consideration of Disability in Public and Private Policies (APHPP), advocates "aid systems and public orders to equip State officials".
In an interview with AFP, the French Secretary of State for People with Disabilities, Sophie Cluzel indicates that the government is considering placing public orders to equip its own agents: "We must be able to increase production, promote it to to interest as many people as possible, to develop orders that will lower production prices. The whole stake is to widen the diffusion of this mask (…). As often, things that are developed for one type of disability will be used for the common good ”.
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Coronavirus in Brest: Smile… Seamstresses make transparent masks for the deaf and hard of hearing
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Coronavirus: With her transparent mask, she wants to make life easier for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Covid 19
- Coronavirus
- Society
- Deafness
- Handicap
- Health