The Nepal Association of the Hard of Hearing (NAHOH) has demanded that people with partial difficulty in hearing should also be categorised as disabled in the proposed bill related to the differently-abled population. 

The association has been lobbying for changes in legal provision to include the population with hearing difficulties in the category of disabled people. 

According to NAHOH Chair Machabhai Maharjan, a huge chunk of population has 

been ignored by the existing legal provision. The existing provision does not issue 

identity card to those people with hearing problem with one ear. 

A joint study by the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) and the Britain Nepal Otology Service (BRINOS) has found that 17 percent of Nepal’s population, or roughly 1 million people, has hard of hearing problem. The report also states that the hearing complication of 35 percent of this population could have been cured had they received treatment on time. 

The NAHOH has been demanding Nepal should redefine the hard of hearing people as per international practices. It has forwarded a six-point demand to the government, which include free distribution of hearing aides and battery for the school-going children with such conditions, income generating training and vocational education and appointment of an official at government offices to deal with the people with hearing problems. 

The association has drawn the attention of the public towards noise pollution caused by the ongoing reconstruction works. It has also urged parents to have doctor check their babies’ hearing capacity at the time of first vaccination to avoid hearing impairment.