For World Hearing Day, which is celebrated each year on 3 March, HRH Crown Princess Katherine wishes to point out the importance of preventive examinations that can change lives for the better, and also to call upon everybody to do what we can to make every-day life of deaf and hearing-impaired persons better.
World Hearing Day is an annual global event for raising awareness regarding hearing loss and promoting ear and hearing care, and calling for action to address hearing loss and related issues. Each year, this event is celebrated on 3 March, covering a specific theme on which the World Health Organization and its partners carry out activities based on this theme. This year’s theme is “Ear and hearing care for all! Let’s make it a reality!” Over 60% of these can be identified and addressed at the primary level of care.
“Experts are emphasizing that ear and hearing problems are among the most common problems encountered in the community. There are so many people in the world who are having difficulties with their sense of hearing. It is very hard for them, it is affecting their lives, performing everyday activities, and we should do what we can to support them. We need to understand and know about the difficulties they face every day, to help them solve their problems and live a better life, even with a lack of hearing
In addition to this, the importance of preventive examinations can not be emphasized enough. Many people are born with this disability, but if it is discovered on time and treated properly, the quality of their lives can be significantly increased. I have said many times – I believe that no newborn baby should leave the hospital without a three-minute test, to make sure that they do not have a hearing problem. And adults also must take care of their hearing. Everybody in the world knows how beautiful it is when you can hear the sound of your loved one’s voice. I wish that as many people possible can enjoy that sound”, said HRH Crown Princess Katherine.
HRH Crown Princess Katherine and the Royal Hearing Screening Committee, which was established by Her Royal Highness, appeal to the importance of using equipment for early diagnosis in all maternity hospitals, so that hearing problems can be noticed during the period when early intervention and proper treatments can provide more quality life. Detected in time, a hearing impairment can be overcome with a hearing aid or cochlear implant, and the child’s speech abilities and development will go on as normal.
In cooperation with the Lifeline Humanitarian Organization offices abroad, whose patron is Crown Princess Katherine, Crown Princess’ Foundation in Belgrade is dedicated to helping people with hearing impairments and donating much-needed screening equipment for hearing loss to hospitals in Serbia and the Republic of Srpska, as well as interactive whiteboards for children, and much more.
HRH Crown Princess Katherine also collaborated with Dr. Daniel Djuraskovic Megler, an American otorhinolaryngologist of Serbian origin, and Ms. Ardis J. Gardella, President of The Holley Institute from Detroit, Michigan, to organize educational trips for hearing-impaired children and their teachers to a special camp in Detroit, Michigan from 2015 through 2017. After a successful workshop and exchange of experiences in Michigan, a summer camp for children with hearing impairments was organized in Serbia in 2017, for the first time. Through several workshops, the children had the opportunity to participate in art and drama groups, socialize and make new friends, as well as to visit the city’s sights.