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Hearing Health Forum EU

HHFEU

The Hearing Health Forum EU was created as a network of NGOs, medical professionals, and industry to raise awareness at an EU-level of the importance of hearing health, access to hearing / ear care, as well as the cost of non-treatment for severe hearing loss and related comorbidities such as cognitive decline.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Adam Jarubas (Member of the European Parliament, Committee chair)

17 Dec 2025 · stronger political recognition of hearing health

Meeting with Alex Agius Saliba (Member of the European Parliament)

16 Nov 2023 · Hearing Loss

Response to A comprehensive approach to mental health

15 Feb 2023

1. How can action at the EU level help to promote good mental health and prevent, mitigate and respond to mental health challenges? The WHO recognizes the challenges resulting from mental-ill health on an individuals overall health and well-being as well as to global development and productivity. Health and social care for these conditions require multisectoral and interdisciplinary collaborations with a holistic person-centered approach focused on promotion, prevention, treatment, care and rehabilitation over the lifespan(1). Hereby, comorbidities must be considered and managed accordingly based on personal and societal impact, and the cost-effectiveness of interventions. For example, the WHO notes the imposing risk of sensory impairments on brain health especially later in life(1) - and the interrelated nature of sensory losses such as hearing loss on mental health(2). Mental health conditions, such as depression, are 1.5 times more common among those experiencing hearing loss than those without(3). More than 5% of the worlds population live with a disabling hearing loss and 20%, equating to 1.5 billion people, live with any kind of hearing loss(2). When a person-centered approach to healthcare is adopted at an EU level, there are benefits to individuals, society and healthcare systems alike. Societal factors are also important considerations in the management of mental health challenges. Limited social networks associated with isolation and loneliness, are shown to increase the prevalence of mental health conditions(6,7) and the risk of dementia by as much as 60%(8). For people living with untreated hearing loss, the odds of experiencing social loneliness, and therefore impacting mental health challenges, are also 2.2 times higher compared to their normal hearing peers(5). We call on the European Commission to consider the following EU policy measures to contribute to good mental health and prevent, mitigate and respond to mental health challenges by maintaining a focus on person-centered care including equal access to mental health services and ear and hearing care: Integration into related EU Strategies Place greater emphasis on hearing loss and mental health in the EU Disabilities Strategy, the Green Paper on Ageing, and the forthcoming EU Transformation of Health and Social Care Strategy. Including a requirement for Member States to capture and code comorbidities also provides an opportunity within the EU Health Data Space to facilitate improved financing and decision-making. Support new health strategies of related comorbidities The Hearing Health Forum EU aims for a European Strategy for Hearing Health. In it, mental health will play a major role as one of the main comorbidities of hearing loss. 2. How should mental health considerations be factored into a wide variety of resilient EU and national policies for the benefit of people across the EU? According to the WHO, global and international health strategies require national policy developments that address leadership and governance, health information, financing, equal access to treatment, and workforce(2). On a national policy level, the HHFEU recommends that mental health considerations and their comorbidities including hearing loss are holistic: - Referral pathways. Studies have shown that clinicians and psychiatrists often ignore hearing loss as an aggravation rather than recognizing that the problem might benefit from appropriate hearing healthcare(17). This is due to missing awareness and because proper referral and follow-up pathways as well as available services are often not clear(18) - Systematic hearing screening - Access to effective treatments. Even though the link between hearing loss and mental health is clear, adults wait up to ten years before seeking treatment for hearing loss(13). Only 17% of those people who could benefit from a hearing aid use one(1) - Mental health in person-centered primary care
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Meeting with Alex Agius Saliba (Member of the European Parliament)

17 Nov 2022 · Hearing loss and screening projects in Malta