CRI听力:Today Marks China's 17th "Ear Care Day"

Statistics show that China has over 2 million hearing-impaired children and the number is growing faster than ever.

To draw more attention on this Ear Health Day, various educational activities have been held across China.

A charity concert was organized recently by CRI's News Radio and China Rehabilitation Research Center for Deaf Children.
Each people donated 200 yuan to attend the charity concert.

The money will go to the Center to fund further study.

Attendees said the event helped them become more aware of the seriousness of hearing-related problem and how they, as individuals, can help.

"People don't pay much attention to ear health; however, this activity is helpful in arousing people's awareness of children with hearing problems. I myself have learned a lot from this activity. It is very meaningful."

"I think it is a very meaningful activity. I enjoyed the evening and at the same time I helped those kids. I think more activities like this should be held so that they can let the children know that they are being cared for by society."

According to statistics, around 30-thousand hearing-impaired babies are born each year.

Long Mo with the China Rehabilitation Research Center for Deaf Children said there are many things that can lead to this problem but heredity is the main factor.

"According to our research, almost 60 percent of the cases of hearing impairment among Chinese children are hereditary. The remaining are caused by other reasons such as infections or injuries. We estimate that around one in every 25 people in China has a gene which can lead to deafness. So a couple who both have the deafness gene run a 25-percent risk of having a child born with hearing impairment."

Experts also noted that the first three years of life are the prime time for treating hearing disorders and parents should be watchful whether their new-born has hearing problems.

A delay in treatment will lead to more problems, even affecting the ability to speak properly.

Gong Shusheng, an ear health expert with the Beijing Friendship Hospital, says the parents of children with hearing problems should be actively involved in treating their children.

"The parents should have classes with their children at school in the daytime and train their children at night to reinforce that learning. In other words, parents should always be at the child's side in order to achieve good results. As with the children who had the artificial cochlea transplant surgery and missed the prime time in learning to speak, their parents must learn some training work."

In addition to hereditary hearing problems, bad habits like staying up late or using headphones with loud volume for too long are also leading causes of hearing problems among children.

Experts warn that adults should not use headphones for more than 4 hours a day, while children should be limited to 2 hours.

For CRI, this is Huang Shan .