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Chapter 15
Why children lose their
hearing and what we can do
There are millions of children all over the world who are deaf or have
hearing problems. Most of them are poor. Out of every 3 children with
hearing problems, 2 live in poor countries. Their deafness is often caused
by infection and poor nutrition. For most of these children, deafness
could have been prevented by taking care of basic needs — like good
food, clean drinking water, a safe, clean place to live, and access to
health care.
Her mother did not
have enough iodine
in her food and
water when she was
pregnant.
He had
measles.
He had many
untreated ear
infections.
Her mother did
not have enough
food when she
was pregnant.
This chapter can help you learn about the causes and medical treatments
for some hearing problems. To prevent deafness, communities must work
together to solve the social causes that medicine cannot fix.
Children’s health and hearing benefit when communities have clean air
(free of smoke and dust) and good sanitation, and are free of violence.
Good health care, including health education, immunizations, and early
treatment of illness, is key to protecting children’s hearing.
Wrong beliefs
Some people believe a child is deaf because the parents
did something wrong. Other people believe a child is deaf because
someone has done evil to the child’s mother, and the child is
‘witched’. Neither of these things causes deafness.