Half of the cases of hearing impairment are avoidable

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), half of deafness cases are preventable and a third are treatable with assistive devices. However, the reality in the field is that there are significant challenges to overcome before hearing care can reach the masses.

In the interview, Sharma highlights how significant a burden hearing loss is in India: hearing loss is reported to be the second most common cause of disability affecting 9% of people in urban areas and 10% of people in rural environments. Data often do not take into account milder forms of hearing loss, implying that the overall burden is even higher. Concerning India, Sharma reports that the main challenge will be increasing awareness on hearing loss among the population. The links between hearing, speech and language development are still not well understood and universal newborn screening has not yet reached all parts of the country.

Sharma was also asked about innovations. In addition to the well-known advances made in recent years in hearing aids (connectivity), cochlear implants (functionality), and auditory brainstem implants (improved techniques), he points out where he sees some innovations that are on the horizon. He believes neurotrophic factors that can prevent neural degeneration may prove to be interesting targets for therapeutic agents. Another area of interest is cochlear implants incorporated with gene therapy, which may emerge in the near future as a solution helping to prevent loss of trophic factors. Sharma also mentions stem cell therapy and new techniques such as volumetric optical coherence tomography vibrometry.