Article courtesy of BBC News.

Article courtesy of BBC News.

The RNID believes that the number of people who have some hearing loss will rise from the current one in seven of the population as noise pollution increases and people live longer.

"This is likely to become one of the biggest health and social issues of our time," said RNID chief executive John Low. "Millions of people who could benefit from wearing a hearing aid or hearing protection are reluctant to do so." The charity is calling for a revolution in people's thinking about hearing products and says that there is insufficient investment in the customer appeal of hearing aids. "There has been an incredible revolution is the design of glasses, why not in hearing aids," wonders Dr Low.

Although the European market for hearing aids is worth £2.9bn, the concern is that millions of people who could benefit from them are reluctant to do so. Design journalist and Blueprint deputy editor, Henrietta Thompson, has a hearing impairment and refused to wear hearing aids until she was 14 "Too many people prefer to struggle to hear rather than wearing one," she said. "It's ridiculous, today, when we're surrounded by good design in all areas of our lives, that hearing aids have been forgotten in this way."

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