According to the World Health Organization, nearly 1.1 billion young people worldwide between the ages of 12 and 35 are at risk of hearing loss due to prolonged and excessive exposure to loud sounds. This figure includes young folks who listen to music through personal audio devices, including smartphones.
March 3rd is World Hearing Day and WHO, along with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have issued a new international standard for the manufacture and use of personal audio devices to make them safer for listening.
More than 460 million people around the world — over 5% of the world’s population – has disabling hearing loss (432 million adults and 34 million children); impacting on their quality of life. The majority live in low- and middle-income countries. And, it is estimated that by 2050 over 900 million people – or 1 in every 10 people – will have disabling hearing loss.
Untreated hearing loss, according to WHO data poses an annual global cost of US$ 750 billion. Additionally, WHO data suggests that half of all cases of hearing loss can be prevented through public health measures.
“Given that we have the technological know-how to prevent hearing loss, it should not be the case that so many young people continue to damage their hearing while listening to music. They must understand that once they lose their hearing, it won’t come back. This new WHO-ITU standard will do much to better safeguard these young consumers as they go about doing something they enjoy.”
–Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General
The WHO-ITU recommended standards for safe personal audio devices are highlighted by the following:
- “Sound allowance” function: software that tracks the level and duration of the user’s exposure to sound as a percentage used of a reference exposure.
- Personalized profile: an individualized listening profile, based on the user’s listening practices, which informs the user of how safely (or not) he or she has been listening and gives cues for action based on this information.
- Volume limiting options: options to limit the volume, including automatic volume reduction and parental volume control.
- Printed general usage guidelines: information and guidance to users on safe listening practices, both through personal audio devices and for other leisure activities.
The standard was developed under WHO’s “Make Listening Safe” initiative which seeks to improve listening practices especially among young people, both when they are exposed to music and other sounds at noisy entertainment venues and as they listen to music through their personal audio devices.
The WHO-ITU standard for safe listening devices was developed by experts from WHO and ITU over a two-year process drawing on the latest evidence and consultations with a range of stakeholders, including experts from government, industry, consumers and civil society. Further, WHO recommends that governments and manufacturers adopt the voluntary WHO-ITU standard.
The WHO-ITU safe listening guidelines can be found here.
Source: WHO