Provision of hearing health services in Nepal: recent advances, persistent gaps, and emerging opportunities

Provision of hearing healthcare in Nepal is evolving due to expanding screening programmes, new epidemiologic data and growing surgical and rehabilitative capacity. Recent literature offers updated prevalence estimates, insights into rural disparities, and evidence on the lack of ear care and hearing health amongst the population including health professionals.

Recent studies highlight the high burden of hearing impairment in remote provinces where there is often limited knowledge, the feasibility of infant-hearing screening in low-resource settings, and new data on paediatric cochlear implant outcomes. Earlier literature contextualises chronic otitis media, school-aged hearing loss, and sociocultural barriers. Workforce limitations, financing, and patchy geographic distribution of services remain substantial challenges.

Despite resource constraints, Nepal is making meaningful progress in screening, epidemiologic characterisation, and surgical rehabilitation. Further advances will require integration of ear and hearing care into primary health systems, scaling of newborn screening, equitable cochlear implant access, workforce expansion, and implementation research to guide policy.