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An Informative Campaign “Do Ears Have Power?” is Launched on World Hearing Day
March 2, 2017
On World Hearing Day on 3 March, with the objective of increasing the knowledge of parents and children about hearing issues, and to encourage people to take care of ear and hearing health, the ABLV Charitable Foundation is launching an informative campaign, “Do Ears Have Power?”, in collaboration with the Latvian Children’s Hearing Centre, the long-term partner of the foundation’s programme “Let’s Help Them to Hear!”. Parents together with their children are encouraged to complete a simple test about their behaviour in various everyday situations, in order to ascertain whether a further hearing test in required.
All interested are invited to fill the test on the internet site: dzirdi.ablv.org
“Oftentimes, children do not even realise that they have hearing problems. Therefore, parents – those responsible for a child’s health play a major role. In order to identify the problem, it is important to be informed about its signs. In collaboration with the Latvian Children’s Hearing Centre, we have developed a simple test that will enable parents not only to identify possible children’s hearing problems, but will also educate them about hearing health,” explains ABLV Charitable Foundation Board Chair Zanda Zilgalve. “We invite parents to place themselves in the situations mentioned in the test questions and to assess their own hearing,” encourages Zanda Zilgalve on World Hearing Day.
“Hearing is particularly important during childhood, because thanks to the function of hearing, a child is able to master language and the ability to speak, which in turn reduces the consequences arising from hearing-related problems. Hearing screening for new-born babies is the only compulsory hearing test for children during early childhood. Since hearing can change over the course of a person’s life - hearing problems are not only a genetic problem; they can also be caused by various illnesses and infections, injuries and noise; it is recommended to undergo a hearing test once a year for prophylactic purposes. This test is a wonderful instrument with which to identify potential hearing problems, as well as to make sure that everything is in order with one’s hearing,“ explains Dr. Med. Sandra Kušķe, Head of the Latvian Children’s Hearing Centre.
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), over 5% of the world’s population, i.e. 360 million people, of whom 32 million are children - have permanent hearing problems. In Latvia, the proportion is similar. In 60% of cases affecting children up to 15 years of age with hearing problems, the hearing problems were caused by preventable causes, i.e. illnesses and infections (31%), complications during birth (17%), use of toxic medicines during pregnancy and breastfeeding (4%), as well as other reasons (8%). Regardless of your age, it is important to observe hearing hygiene, to avoid medicines harmful to hearing, and not to expose yourself to loud noises at work and during your free time.
As a result of hearing hygiene, which is often overlooked, children and adults have to use auxiliary hearing devices of which hearing aids and cochlear implants are the most popular. During the 10 years in which the ABLV Charitable Foundation’s “Let’s Help Them to Hear!” programme has been in operation: with the help of donors, 362 children have received high quality multi-channel digital hearing aids together worth over EUR 600,000, including 97 kids with hearing problems in 2016.
About ABLV Charitable Foundation
The ABLV Charitable Foundation was founded in 2006 by ABLV Bank shareholders Ernests Bernis and Oļegs Fiļs, in order to put their core values into practice in real life and support the responsibility of entrepreneurs towards society and the environment. The Foundation functions as ABLV Bank’s main partner in the realm of charitable activity, supporting creative people and outstanding organisations that invest their efforts and knowledge, in order to achieve universally important goals – to create a united, abundant and safe society. From the time it was founded, the Foundation has focused its attention on contemporary art, the welfare of children and adolescents, the development of education and civic society. Moreover, the Foundation is the co-founder of the future Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art, which will open its doors in 2021. It is worth highlighting that a record sum of EUR 1,046,173 was donated to the Foundation’s 10th anniversary charitable campaign, of which EUR 127,116 in donations were made under the “Let’s Help Them to Hear!“ programme to support children with hearing problems. Over the years, the Foundation has supported 300 projects, allocating co-financing to them amounting to over EUR 3 million.
For more detailed information, please contact:
Inese Rītele
Project Manager
ABLV Charitable Foundation
Phone: (+371) 67281383
E-mail: inese.ritele@ablv.org
www.ablv.org