The European Commission has responded to a written question from 16 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) asking about hearing loss in the EU, which highlighted that around 8% of dementia cases can be attributed to this modifiable risk factor.
The MEPs included Manuela Ripa (EPP, Germany), Tomáš Zdechovský (EPP, Czechia), Dan-Ştefan Motreanu (EPP, Romania), Liudas Mažylis (EPP, Lithuania), Eleonora Meleti (EPP, Greece), Jagna Marczułajtis-Walczak (EPP, Poland), Elena Nevado del Campo (EPP, Spain), Alex Agius Saliba (S&D, Malta), Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis (S&D, Lithuania), Ondřej Krutílek (ECR, Czechia), Elisabetta Gualmini (Renew, Italy), Ciaran Mullooly (Renew, Ireland), Majdouline Sbai (Greens/EFA, France), Mounir Satouri (Greens/EFA, France), Sebastian Everding (GUE/NGL, Germany) and Merja Kyllönen (GUE/NGL, Finland).
Specifically, the question asked:
1. How does the Commission plan to strengthen prevention and early detection of hearing loss across Member States?
2. What actions will the Commission take under EU4Health and related initiatives to improve access to hearing care and reduce environmental factors contributing to hearing loss?
In its response, the European Commission stated referred to existing programmes of work underway, including the “Healthier Together” non communicable diseases initiative, PreventNCD Joint Action and the Joint Action on Dementia (JADE). Additionally, it cited work underway in projects such as Care4Elders and READIHEAR.
The full European Commission response is available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-10-2026-002380-ASW_EN.html
