#See&HearYou

Sustainability challenge and related SDGs

Seeing and hearing belong to our five senses and seem very natural to most of us. However, if one or both of these senses are defective, life can be very difficult. Sight and hearing enable us to perceive the world around us and to make the right decisions, starting with simple things such as “can I cross the street here?”.

Having visual or hearing impairment can make life very difficult, especially for people who do not have access to essential healthcare services. Indeed, glasses, contact lenses or hearing aids belong to basic healthcare equipment and access to such equipment is needed to achieve SDG3 “Good Health and Wellbeing”.

Possible solutions and their contribution to achieving the SDGs

Glasses and contact lenses have been developed to enable people with eyesight deficiencies to be able to see better and live a normal life. Less commonly accepted but as important are hearing aids for people with hearing impairment. They enable people to listen to the world. Thanks to hearing aids, kids with hearing problems can go to school.

So, contributing to mitigate or compensate defective essential senses such as #See&HearYou, glasses, contact lenses and hearing aids have a clear beneficial impact on the achievement of universal health coverage, one of the targets set by SDG3 “Good Health and Wellbeing”.

Primarily related SDG Targets: 3.4, 3.8

Investment Rationale and Growth Potential

People will always perceive the world through their senses. If eyesight or hearing are defective, equipment to compensate these deficiencies is needed. Progress has been made to correct visual or hearing impairment, but investments in handy innovative solutions to help us see and hear the world better will always be needed.

Due to the combination of an increasing global population and growing life expectancy, the demand for vision and hearing aids keeps rising.