Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

HEALTH BRIEFING:Hearing difficulties affect one in three people over 60, but Irish people will put up with poor hearing for up to 15 years before seeking help, according to Dr Nina Byrnes (pictured with Peter Carr).

To mark Positive Ageing Week, Hidden Hearing has launched a national hearing screening programme offering 30,000 free hearing tests at any of its 60 centres around the country. The European average of hearing device usage among the population is 15 per cent, but Ireland ranks well below this at 11 per cent.