Abstract
Abstract:
The plight of persons who are deaf is likely to have a substantial impact on the economic independence and quality of life of the affected individual and household members (Olusanya et al., 2013). Although, deafness is a global phenomenon, a substantial number of Deaf people in Global South countries reside in low- or middle-income communities (Olusanya et al., 2014; Asonye 2018; WHO, 2019; Waterworth et al., 2019). Global estimates on deafness presented by the World Health Organisation (2012) indicates that 360 million people representing 5.3% of the global population experience deafness. The World Health Organisation 2019 Report reveals that 466 million people are experiencing deafness globally. Statistical evidence on the prevalence of deafness in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) indicates that 1.9 % children experience some form of deafness while adult prevalence disaggregated by gender in the same sub-region indicates 7.4 % and 5.5 % for male and female respectively (WHO, 2012). This higher prevalence among men, is attributable to their predominant employment in the construction industry, military or recreational facilities that expose them to the damaging effects of noise (Shea Hearing, 2018; McPhilips, 2018). ..