Many families of deaf children were in deep distress due to the lack of ear protection knowledge and hearing impairment-related research. The establishment of "National Ear Day" changed all this.
This magazine interviewed Gao Chenghua, the former director of the China Hearing and Speech Rehabilitation Research Center, to talk about the origin of the "National Ear Day" and how to further help the public to prevent hearing impairment and protect people's ear health in the future.
■How did "Ear Day" come about?
In November 1999, ten ministries and commissions including the China Disabled Persons' Federation, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Education jointly established March 3 each year as the "National Ear Day".
Gao Chenghua, who participated in the founding of "National Ear Day", told this magazine that research on the prevention and rehabilitation of hearing impairment in my country began in the 1980s. In the past, due to insufficient attention to ototoxic drugs, many Deaf-mute patients, most of whom are children, cannot get good rehabilitation treatment, and the quality of life of the patients themselves and their families is greatly reduced.
In response to the distressing situation at that time, in 1998, a number of senior experts from universities, hospitals, and special education schools jointly discussed how to truly and effectively make the public pay attention to ear health, understand relevant knowledge, and protect their hearing?
"National Ear Day" came into being.
In 2013, considering that people in some developing countries have not yet received the popularization of ear health knowledge and are deeply troubled by hearing impairment, experts applied to the World Health Organization and successfully established March 3 each year as "World Ear Day". ".
In the 22 years since its establishment, "Ear Day" has made great contributions in raising public health awareness, popularizing prevention knowledge, and promoting the development of medical research.
■ The knowledge of ear protection should benefit the whole population
Gao Chenghua said that, with regard to hearing protection, the prevention and rehabilitation of hearing impairment, the focus is on benefiting the entire population and covering the entire life cycle.
He believes that with the advancement of medical research and the development of science and technology, significant progress has been made in ear disease treatment and hearing impairment rehabilitation, but prevention and health management are still weak links.
Faced with every citizen of different age groups and under different health conditions, how to do a good job in the popularization of prevention knowledge and the creation and management of health records is a problem that needs to be considered and solved at this stage.
First of all, in response to the problem of hearing impairment in infants and young children, we should start by paying attention to women's preparation for pregnancy and pregnancy health, because the health of the mother will directly affect the fetus. Doing a good job in the dissemination of knowledge can effectively reduce the risk of neonatal infections caused by viruses, fever, and improper medication. the occurrence of deafness;
In the next stage, knowledge about ear diseases such as exudative otitis media should be popularized among novice parents. Many children suffer from ear diseases and deafness due to improper feeding. Feeding methods will greatly reduce the probability of children getting sick;
For young and middle-aged people, it is crucial to reduce the impact of environmental noise, including electronic devices, on hearing health. Nowadays, people are so dependent on electronic devices that many people wear headphones all day, especially in noisy environments. Will turn up the volume, but the long-term exposure of the ear to noise is one of the reasons for the decline of hearing ability and the occurrence of hearing impairment;
For the elderly and their families, it is necessary to popularize knowledge about the impact of chronic diseases on hearing, and pay attention to the early intervention of hearing impairment. The common "three highs" in basic diseases, especially diabetes, which affects the microcirculation, may affect hearing. For the elderly with poor tolerance, sleep problems, psychological problems, and mood swings are also many factors that affect hearing health.
The ear is not only an organ for receiving sound waves, but also a "bridge" for communication between people, and a channel for people to enjoy the colorful world of sound. The ear plays an extremely important role in physical and mental health.
Gao Chenghua said that in the future, the "Ear Love Day" will continue to help improve the health of the whole people, and teach the public to love their ears and protect their ears through knowledge dissemination.
Text/Wang Ying