Switzerland's Sonova Group, the world's largest hearing care solutions provider by revenue, plans to build its Asia-Pacific's first hearing training and education center in Suzhou, Jiangsu province.

The center will focus on not only product training, but also on diagnosis, recovery and fitting to offer better support to both hearing professionals and those suffering hearing difficulties, said Albert Lim, Sonova's vice-president for Asia Pacific.

The center's main focus will be training for practitioners and current professionals in the industry, rather than training people to enter the field, he said, adding that hearing solutions are not one-time transactions. "They require long-term maintenance and good regular follow-up."

According to the latest figures in 2006, 27.8 million disabled Chinese suffer from hearing loss. Only four universities provide bachelor degrees in hearing education, however, and currently there are just around 10,000 trained professionals working in the area.

Lim said the average person does not consider hearing loss a serious problem, but in effect the condition is chronic and can affect a person for life.

He said research shows that one of the biggest issues is social isolation.

Bettina Turnbull, Sonova's regional audiology education and training director, said initially they are aiming to provide channels of education for staff, and also for current audiologists and hearing-aid fitters.

Pathways for new practitioners will then be created to help raise the numbers of people working in the field.

Sonova, which specializes in hearing aids, cochlear implants and wireless communication solutions, already has an impressive track record of offering support to the hard-of-hearing professional in China in collaboration with local institutions.

Its Phonak hearing aid brand, for instance, has been used in the Hearing Aid Fitting Professional Occupation Training project, run in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, since 2011, which has helped around 800 people gain certificates issued by Jiangsu's human resources and social security department.

Working with Jinling Occupation Technical School in Jiangsu, Sonova has also run an annual hearing aid fitting contest since 2012, the same year it launched a special scholarship, too, for students majoring in audiology at the Capital Medical University School of Biomedical Engineering.

The company's Sonova Academy was built in China in 2010, offering training and improvements in professional competency.

And it has also had a cooperation agreement in place with the China Rehabilitation and Research Center for Deaf Children in Beijing since 2013, under which Sonova helps further develop audiology education programs and conduct exchange and short-term training programs.

"Hearing is a hidden disability we can't see," said Turnbull.

"It's often unrecognized, but it affects not just the person but everybody around them."

With that in mind, the company is now working to encourage more family members of people with hearing loss "to better understand what the person is facing", said Turnbull.

"They can't solve the problem by themselves. So making the environment better by being able to communicate better will deliver the best results."

Although she praised China's screening program for newborn babies, she said more should be done to offer particular help to children, including wider use of hearing aids or cochlear implants.

wangzhuoqiong@chinadaily.com.cn