Organization: Deparment of ENT Surgery, Kampala International University (KIU) & KIUTeaching Hospital, Ishaka-Bushenyi, Uganda.
Title: “Beyond The Clinic: Scaling Ear and Hearing Care for Adolescents Through Awareness Creation, School-Based Screening and Relevant Advocacy
Al title (for format and translation – not permanent:
Beyond the clinic: Scaling ear and hearing care for every child in the classrooms
Description:
Stakeholder engagement and permissions: This was commenced from the hospital with The Director of Clinical Services and The Chief Executive Officer of Kampala International University Teaching Hospital (KIUTH), then The Dean of Faculty of Clinical Medicine and Dentistry, The Principal of the College of Health Sciences, as well as The Directorate of Research, Innovation, Consultancy and Extension, Kampala International University (KIU); to intimate them about World Hearing Day (WHD) campaign and getting institutional support and ownership as and when needed. There had been a visit to Basajjabalaba Secondary School (BBSS), Ishaka-Bushenyi, within the last week in January 2026, to engage the headship of the school about the intent of choosing the school for the commemoration of WHD, in view of the theme for this year; the school was appreciative and expressed readiness for the WHD events. Through the unwavering support of the management of KIUTH, it was easy to reach out to the District Health Officer and District Education Officer of Bushenyi (both of whom were represented by the Education Officer – Special Needs, Bushenyi District at the second lecture of the events), while efforts are still on the way to reach the Mayor of Bushenyi District.
School leadership/ staff and Parents sensitization for consent and assent: a letter of request for the permission to commemorate WHD at BBSS was communicated to the school management on the 25th February, 2026, and it was well received. Being a boarding school, the consent by the management was taken as the parental consents for the students while only those that gave their accent were part of the ear and hearing screening, with a coverage of 81% (401/ 495)
Ear and Hearing Care (EHC) Awareness/ Eduacation sessions; Interactive sessions using appropriately branded WHO WHD posters/ materials in accordance with approved guidelines, focusing on; Milestones of hearing and learning, Early signs/ identification of hearing loss, Prevention of hearing loss, Safe listening, When and where to seek care, as well as advocacy/ collaboration towards the integration of EHC into Child and School health program. We were able to reach out to at 495 students and over 75 adults (teachers, parents/ healthcare professionals, policymakers) at the WHD lectures that focused on the 2026 Theme. These lectures were titled; 1. “BEYOND THE CLINIC: SCALING EAR AND HEARING CARE FOR EVERY CHILD”; 2. “EAR AND HEARING CARE FOR ALL: A Call on Healthcare Professionals and Policy makers in Bridging The Gaps of The Hidden Burden”
Hearing screening: after administering self-report questionnaires to the 401 students that assented to participate in the screening, they all had otoscopy and 88 of them (21.9%) have been referred for further care at KIUTH, due to impacted wax, chronic suppurative otitis media (inactive), foreign body in the left ear, left aural polyp and reduced hearing.
Counseling, referral, and follow-up of identified cases: The students were informed of the outcome of their respective otoscopy findings and generally counseled on EHC, while those with the need for further care were referred to KIUTH for free follow-up; which will be from the 16th March, 2026.
Collation and analysis of data generated: Preliminary results of collated data reveals 212 females (52.9%) and 189 males ( 47.1%). Majority of the referred 81.8% (72/ 88) students have wax impaction in there ears (bilateral/ unilateral), out of whom 52 (72.2%) reported reduced hearing. Out of the 401 participants, 24 (5.98%) feels that their hearing difficulty affects their school performance.
Dissemination of the findings of this project shall be done to relevant authorities/ platforms to strengthen further advocacy for the integration of EHC into School Health Program
Primary site: AFR – Uganda
Region: AFR
General Photos
THE HOD-ENT-&-CEO-KIUTH AT THE WHD LECTURE TO BBSS STUDENTS
PHOTOS WITH KIU VC DVC-AA CEO DCS (UP). HEAD TEACHER (DOWN)
2026 WORLD HEARING DAY EAR AND HEARING SCREENING AT BBSS
2026 WHD LECTURE TO HEALTHCARE PROFESIONALS & POLICY MAKERS
Types of Engagement:
Live event: Yes
Screening: Yes
Traditional media: No
Social media: Yes
Special needs populations: children and adolescents
Met with individual policymaker: Yes
Participation of policy makers: Yes
Participation of influencers: No
WHO technical tool used: Yes
WHO educational and social media used: No