Koforidua, March 10, GNA – Mr Juventus Duorinaah, Executive Director of the Ghana National Association of the Deaf (GNAD), has called for appropriate sign languages to help people with deaf impairment overcome communication barriers when accessing public services.
He also urged the government to take immediate action to improve hearing care and prevent hearing loss by improving the resources available to Ghana’s existing hearing screening and assessment centres, including those in Schools for the Deaf.
Mr Duorinaah made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency as Ghana joined the international community in commemorating World Hearing Day, which was observed on March 3 every year.
The theme of the 2022 World Hearing Day was, “To Hear for Life, Listen with Care,” which echoed the World Health Organization’s (WHO) warning that hearing loss, if not identified and treated early, can have far-reaching consequences.
According to the 2021 World Report on Hearing Loss, one out of every five people in the world has hearing loss, with the majority of them living in low-and middle-income countries.
Ghana’s 2021 Population and Housing Census estimates that, 470,737 Ghanaians have some degree of hearing loss. Out of which 385,794 have some hearing problems, 65,495 have severe hearing problems, and 19,448 cannot hear at all.
“This group represents a sizable proportion of the population, but the figure could be higher because many people do not disclose their hearing loss due to the stigma associated with it,” Mr Duorinaah explained.
He pointed out that many people who have lost their hearing lacked access to interventions such as hearing aids.
He was also concerned that most people with hearing loss, like many people with disabilities, were stigmatized, marginalized, and lacked access to critical resources for their development.
“A large number of people have not been screened for early detection and appropriate intervention because the service is not available to them,” he explained.
“Over 80 per cent of children with varying degrees of hearing loss in Ghana are not in school or do not have access to specialized teachers or appropriate interventions such as Ghanaian Sign language,” he added.
As a result, he noted, “Existing evidence suggests that hearing loss has an impact on the educational attainment of deaf children of school age in Ghana.”
“One in every three deaf children is estimated to have missed out on education during their first four years of schooling, which can have a negative impact on their future development.”
To address the issue, he suggested that early screening, which is critical in identifying children for early, effective interventions, could help alleviate the situation.
However, it should be noted that negative societal attitudes and prejudices toward people with hearing loss influence disclosure of hearing loss, seeking medical intervention, and discouraging family investment in such people’s development.
As a result, Mr Duorinaah, called on the government to work with relevant institutions and organizations to support comprehensive hearing loss awareness-raising as part of measures to reduce stigma against people with hearing loss.
“This will help to dispel myths about hearing loss and encourage Ghanaians to seek appropriate interventions,” he added, calling for more resources for existing hearing screening and assessment centres to ensure that school-age children have access to early screening for hearing loss and receive early interventions.
He reminded the state that age-appropriate Sign Languages were one of the key interventions recommended by the WHO for people with hearing loss.
IHe urged the National Council on Persons with Disabilities to re-enact the revised Persons with Disabilities Act (Act 715) as soon as possible.
He also advocated increased access to and utilization of Ghanaian Sign Language services to ensure that Ghanaian children and young deaf people are not left out.
GNA