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How to gift unwanted hearing aids so they can benefit somebody with hearing loss
Do you have a hearing aid which is no longer required?
Do you have a hearing aid which is no longer required?
Perhaps you have upgraded and have older hearing aids no longer required, or a relative or friend has hearing aids surplus to requirements. Binning them would be wasteful. Surely they can be used by somebody?
Yes they can.....
for over 25 years the Rotary Club of Birmingham, has been working with a network of Audiologists around the world to get unwanted hearing aids to those in need of them.
Most people assume that there is nothing that can be done with unwanted hearing aids, be they old or virtually brand new. Heart-breaking when loved ones have only just bought a hearing aid or even a pair, in many cases costing up to several thousand pounds, and then are unable to use them.
Well, don't despair because for 25 years, over 44,000 hearing aids have been collected from private individuals, Hearing Clinics, Audiology Departments of NHS Trusts, and Retail Suppliers. Many donors are referred by RNID (the Royal National Institute for Deaf People).
Donated hearing aids are passed on to a network of audiologists worldwide, who refurbish and then supply them to those in need.
Donated hearing aids are passed on to a network of audiologists worldwide, who refurbish and then supply them to those in need.
Currently both hearing aids and other Audiological equipment is being supplied to Zimbabwe, Malawi, Gambia, Israel, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Tanzania, Lebanon, Jordan, Brazil, Romania, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Nigeria & Syria. The list is ever increasing...
The problem
The problem
Over 5% of the world’s population – or 430 million people – require rehabilitation to address their ‘disabling’ hearing loss (432 million adults and 34 million children). It is estimated that by 2050 over 700 million people – or one in every ten people – will have disabling hearing loss.
When unaddressed, hearing loss impacts many aspects of life:
Communication and speech
Cognition
Education and Employment
Social isolation, loneliness and stigma
In developing countries, children with hearing loss and deafness often do not receive schooling. Adults with hearing loss also have a much higher unemployment rate. Among those who are employed, a higher percentage of people with hearing loss are in the lower grades of employment compared with the general workforce.
Source: WHO https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/deafness-and-hearing-loss
A girl in Pakistan wearing a donated hearing aid
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