Over 1 billion young people are now at risk of hearing loss due to unsafe music listening habits. This was stated by the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) office in Russia, Batyr Berdyklychev, at a press conference dedicated to World Hearing Day.

“It is a very worrying factor that more than 1 billion young people are at risk of hearing loss due to unsafe audio habits, which can be avoided with the right behavior,” he said.

The head of the WHO office in the Russian Federation noted that by 2050, almost 2.5 billion people will have some degree of hearing loss, and at least 700 million people will need rehabilitation for hearing impairment. Berdyklychev also added that today approximately 5% of the world's population suffers from hearing loss leading to disability.

“In children, 60% of hearing loss cases are due to preventable causes, and this is a huge opportunity to change the situation with the spread of hearing loss in the future,” he noted. At the same time, the WHO representative in the Russian Federation drew attention to the fact that more than 60% of hearing diseases can be treated at the primary level, so “it is necessary to increase the level of accessibility of primary health care.”

In addition, according to Berdyklychev, investing in preventive treatment of hearing organs is a good investment. “The expected return on every $1 invested is $16, and this is important to take when planning the health care system,” he summarized.