No fewer than 8.3 million Nigerians are currently suffering from hearing impairment and unless urgent proactive steps are taken, the situation may worsen.
The President, Speech Pathologists and Audiologists Association in Nigeria, SPAAN, Prof. Julius Ademokoya, raised the alarm.
This is just as he called on government in the country to draw up programme to take care of the affected Nigerians.
He added that the government was not doing enough to assist millions of people with hearing and speech problems.
Ademokoya who made the assertion while addressing journalists in Ibadan, to commemorate the International month of Hearing and Speech with the theme, Promoting better hearing and speech in Nigeria, organised by the Speech Pathologists and Audiologists Association in Nigeria, in collaboration with Smile Train, said presently Nigeria had 300 certified speech therapists to manage the problem .
He said the number of pathologists and audiologists was not enough in Nigeria compared to what was obtainable in other countries.
He called on Nigerian government to initiate programmes and make legislation that would protect the interest of people with the problems in the country.
Ademokoya who was by flanked the vice president of the association, Oyedunni Arulogun, and other members said, “Government is not doing enough to attend and take care for people with hearing and speech problems. The government is not giving them support. When you look at the care given to them, it is quite discouraging.
“That is why we need to initiate programmes that will take care of people with hearing and speech problems. So you look at it, the care is not enough as expected. This is why we need to initiate and encourage government to put in place, better legislation. When someone has speech or hearing problem, that person may not be able to perform as expected. That person will become a burden to the society, to the community.
“You and I know that in advance and developed countries, they have better programmes that take care of people in this category. That is why we said that government needs to put better legislation to address this. When someone has speech or hearing problem, they have low productivity and they will not be able to perform effectively. These are the people you see on the roads as beggars.
“Government must incorporate hearing screenings just like the way it is done in developed countries. If government is doing this, many children that have hearing problem must have overcome the challenges very early. That is a measure we advice government to do.
“Government must establish centre where people who have hearing problem can test and detect if they have hearing problem. If we make available the centres where people can go and test and detect if they have hearing problem, then the problems of people with hearing problem will be solved early. Nigeria needs more of audiologists. We need to encourage people to study audiology.”
While speaking on the remote causes of the problems, a consultant at the University College Hospital, UCH, Dr. Adeola Olusanya, who represented Smile Train, blamed malnutrition, poor feeding during pregnancy, misuse of drugs, noise, accident and genetic problem for hearing and speech impairment.
