Tuesday, 31 May 2022 16:38

Fundación Rafael Meza Ayau - Fundación Oír Es Vivir agreement signed

Written by Evelyn Alas

The WHO estimates that by 2050, almost 2.5 billion people will live with some degree of hearing loss, of which at least 700 million will need rehabilitation services. Inaction will have costs not only for the health and well-being of those affected, but will also cause economic losses resulting from the exclusion of these people from communication, education and employment.

As Fundación Rafael Meza Ayau, we focus on diagnosing neglected gaps in El Salvador to work in the search for comprehensive solutions hand in hand with experts in the field.

Faced with this challenging "silent" panorama, inspired by the work of our ally Fundación Oír es Vivir of Panama, FRMA takes concrete action to join other organizations in the region that are committed to working to facilitate hearing health care and education to the population of El Salvador, with a focus on benefiting early childhood, their mothers, fathers, caregivers, teachers, and professionals in the field, with actions that promote comprehensive care and prevention of hearing care, as a fundamental element for a full life.

Therefore, in this month of may we are signing a cooperation agreement with Fundación Oír es Vivir, in order to develop joint actions to promote and raise awareness about the importance of hearing health as well as future programs to strengthen El Salvador in the knowledge, care and dissemination of activities for the healthy hearing of children.

We started last april, launching the campaign "Pará la oreja" that throughout the month promoted and generated awareness in our social networks about the importance of hearing health in children, taking into account that the ears are a vital sense for health, communication and learning.

Also, we commemorate on APRIL 27th the #Solo1Minuto de Silencio initiative, in the framework of the International Noise Awareness Day seeking to promote responsible actions that contribute to be able to create healthy sound environments.

During the visit of Fundación Oír es Vivir to our country, we will be in different spaces to continue sharing valuable information, tips and recommendations to take care of the hearing health of children and the entire salvadoran population in general.

"We are very excited to start this alliance with Fundación Oír es Vivir, because it will allow us to work hand in hand in the development of training spaces, programs and campaigns that educate us on the subject, and facilitate the implementation on a larger scale of sustainable solutions to protect the hearing health of our children", said Carla Meyer, executive director of Fundación Rafael Meza Ayau.

Giovanna Troncoso, president of Fundación Oír es Vivir shared with us: "We are honored that our work has been the inspiration for FRMA to become active in leading hearing care in her country, a cause that is "invisible" to many. This joint initiative that promotes education, awareness and prevention gives salvadoran children, their parents, teachers and the community in general, a great opportunity to reverse the increasing curve of hearing loss and take care of hearing in a proactive and responsible way".

The hearing health of our country will greatly benefit from this valuable alliance.