In 1991, then-President Cory Aquino proclaimed the second week of November as Deaf Awareness Week.
Better late than never, we contribute in this editorial to the goal of enhancing public awareness of the

importance of good hearing and the ways to prevent deafness, detect it early and how best to lessen the moral pains and disadvantages of the deaf and how to rehabilitate and educate them and the hearing impaired.

The Federation of Agencies for the Deaf, the University of Santo Tomas and Better Hearing Philippines took the lead in this years campaign for better hearing and “deaf awareness.” (The name of the campaign in then President Aquino’s Proclamation 829 is unfortunate because “Deaf Awareness” means a flawed—deaf—awareness of something. Instead of having the defect of a tin ear, the person who wrote the proclamation for Mrs. Aquino must probably have been gifted with a golden ear, was offended by the gross rhyme of “deafness awareness” and so decided to commit the malapropos “deaf awareness.”)
Deafness refers to the complete loss of the ability to hear from one or both ears. Hearing impairment, which happens to most as they age, refers to partial loss of ability to hear in both or in only one ear. Impairment levels are classified as mild, moderate, severe or profound.

Doctors recognize two types of hearing impairment, defined according to where the problem occurs.

The “conductive hearing impairment” type involves the outer or middle ear. This type of hearing problem is often medically or surgically resolved, if proper medical services are available. Childhood middle ear infection is the most common example of this type of impairment.

The type called “sensorineural hearing impairment” is often owed to a problem with the inner ear or, only occasionally, with the hearing nerve going from the inner ear to the brain (which processes the sound to become recognizable to the person). This type of hearing problem is usually permanent and can be solved by rehabilitation. The use of a hearing aid is the most common kind of rehabilitation. Common causes are excessive noise and aging.

One estimate says nearly half a billion of the world’s population suffer from moderate to profound hearing loss in both ears. About four-fifths of all deaf and hearing-impaired people are poor. The rising number of hearing-impaired people is the result of increased longevity.

Among children, chronic middle ear infection is usually the cause of mild to moderate hearing impairment.
How a child’s speech, language skills, education and ability to integrate socially are affected by hearing impairment depends on its level and type. How old the child is when the impairment begins is also crucial.

Half of all cases of deafness and hearing impairment can be avoided through prevention, early diagnosis and management.

To prevent noise-induced hearing loss, Better Hearing Philippines recommends that we:
• Avoid or limit exposure to excessively loud sounds.
• Move away from the source of loud sounds if possible or wear earplugs.
• Use earphones for iPods, MP3 players and such devices set to a moderate volume or minimize their use if the volume is too loud.
• Have our hearing checked regularly.

Moral deafness

AZenit.org report on November 17 is titled “Church Seeks to Better Serve Its 1. 3 Million Deaf People.” It tells us that the Vatican is intent on making sure that deaf Catholics can fully participate in the Church.

This resolve was affirmed by Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, which held its 24th international conference in the Vatican on Thursday November 19. The theme of the conference was “Ephphata: the Deaf Person in the Life of the Church.” The Bible records Jesus saying “Ephphata” (Aramaic for “be opened”) when he cured a deaf-mute.

Archbishop Zimowski, Zenit reported, estimated that in developed countries, one child out of 1,000 is deaf, but the problem is more serious in poor countries, where 80 percent of the world’s deaf live. In these cases, deafness is often the result of insufficient medical care and lack of medication. He stressed the need to help these people and reminded the conference participants that “the world has begun to overcome the prejudices and superstitions linked to physical disability.”

The prelate admitted that within the Church, deafness implies “difficulties in participating fully” and this “impedes the possibility of growth in the spiritual life and in religious practice, but also implies the lack of their contribution in terms of vitality and wealth in the Church herself.” He asked his hearers to recall that Pope John Paul II during the Great Jubilee, had explained the importance of “finding room for the deaf in the Church” to obtain “a real integration.”

Pope Benedict XVI addressed the conference on Friday. We hope he also spoke about the moral deafness of a greater number of Catholics than those who are physically deaf.

In the Philippines alone many Catholic public officials, lawmakers, law-enforcement officers, members of the judiciary, the rich and middle-class Filipinos who make up 10 percent of the population are mostly both blind and deaf to the cries of the 50 million who are immersed in poverty.

They are deaf to the urgent calls, for instance, of the Pagasa for funds so that our country’s weather forecasting can be improved and such deaths and devastation as seen during and in the aftermath of Ondoy and Pepeng can be mitigated. For 11 years now, Malacañang and the Congress did not prioritize bills to properly fund the Pagasa’s modernization. If Pagasa had been given the money for radars and instruments five years ago, scores of typhoons, including Ondoy, could have been forecasted more accurately. The lives lost and property damage would have been minimized.