By Samwel Doe Ouma@samweldoe
World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have now issued international standard for the manufacturers and governments to consider prioritizing safety of hearing organs while making communication devices, including smartphones and audio players, by making them safer for listening
In a new Joint report by WHO and ITU approximately 50 percent of people aged between 12-35 years – or 1.1 billion young people – are at risk of hearing loss due to prolonged and excessive exposure to loud sounds, including music they listen to through personal audio devices.
“Given that we have the technological know-how to prevent hearing loss, it should not be the case that so many young people continue to damage their hearing while listening to music,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s director-general.
The standard developed under WHO’s “Make Listening Safe” initiative aims to improve listening practices of young people who are exposed to music and other sounds at noisy entertainment venues and to music on their personal audio devices.
WHO says that hearing standard developed by experts over a two-year process “draws on the latest evidence and consultations with a range of stakeholders, including experts from government, industry, consumers and civil society.”
The report recommends that governments and manufacturers adopt to the voluntary standard, which recommends that personal audio devices should have a “sound allowance” function software that tracks the level and duration of the user’s exposure to sound as a percentage used of a reference exposure.
It also want the manufacturers to personalized profile by recording an individual listening profile and patterns based on the user’s listening practices, which informs the user of how safely or not he or she has been listening and gives cues for action based on this information
They should also ensure volume limiting options by providing options which includes automatic volume reduction and parental volume control and lastly having a general information and guidance to users on safe listening practices, both through personal audio devices and for other leisure activities.
