Auditory ailments on the rise in Karachi
Although metropolitan city centres offer better living opportunities for people looking to upgrade their lifestyles, they are nevertheless a cacophony of deafening sounds, with the honking of cars, hollering of hawkers, and the background screeching of industrial activity gradually piercing the eardrums of the helpless locals.
Irfan Ahmed, a resident of Clifton, revealed that he works as an exporter at the Karachi port. "Since the nature of my work requires me to ride my bike on a daily basis, my hearing has been significantly impacted due to the noise of traffic. When I contacted the ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor, he advised me to get a hearing device, which cost me Rs22,000," said Ahmed.
Similarly, Shahida Begum, a 55-year-old resident of North Karachi, informed that she had been using a hearing aid since the past 20 years due to a defect in her eardrum. "The price of a device has increased by Rs2,000 to Rs4,000 in recent times. Since I belong to a poor family, a benevolent family bought me a hearing aid," shared Shahida
According to sources of the Express Tribune, hearing ailments are on the rise in the city due to various factors including the constant use of mobile phones, traffic noise, air pollution and inappropriate treatments among other factors. Due to various infections in women during pregnancy, hearing impairments in newborns were also increasing, with 30 per cent more children presenting with hearing ailments during the past three years. Furthermore, the results of a study revealed that 75 per cent of Traffic Police officers were suffering from hearing problems.
"Due to the rise in hearing ailments, more and more people are relying on hearing aids. Traffic Police officers are affected the worst by traffic noise due to persistent exposure. Unfortunately, the government has not provided any protective kits or equipment to these officials. Furthermore, due to frequent use of noisy gadgets and hands-free devices, every year three to five per cent of people are reportedly suffering from ear diseases, especially presbycusis," said Dr Qaiser Sajjad, ENT surgeon and Former Secretary General at the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA).
Dr Sameer Qureshi, Professor of ENT at the Hamdard University Karachi, explained the presbycusis most commonly developed among elderly people who suffered from severe age-related hearing loss. "The second category of patients are those who have weakened eardrums while the third group of patients are those with a ruptured eardrum, who are avoiding eardrum surgery. All such patients require hearing aids. Due to the increasing dollar rate, the prices of hearing aids, which are imported from different countries, have increased by 30 to 50 per cent," informed Dr Qureshi.
Seconding Dr Qureshi, Rahim Baig, a shopkeeper selling hearing aids in Saddar, confirmed that no hearing aids were manufactured locally. "These hearing aids are available at prices ranging from Rs3,000 to more than Rs100,000. People with hearing loss buy the device according to their financial position. Various NGOs also distribute free hearing aids to poor patients with the help of philanthropists," claimed Baig.