Swahili live captions and productivity tool for doctor appointments

Sub-Saharan Africa faces a hearing loss crisis that receives little international attention. Forty million Africans currently live with hearing loss, and without intervention this figure is projected to reach 54 million by 2030 and 97 million by 2050. In East Africa — Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda — the shortage of audiologists and ear, nose and throat specialists is extreme. In 56% of African countries, there is only one ENT surgeon per million people, compared to more than 50 per million in most European countries. Hearing loss screening does not exist at scale in either Kenya or Tanzania.

Kenya's National Health Mission has identified hearing loss as a significant unchecked public health burden, but routine audiological screening has not been integrated into primary care. In Tanzania, a 2019 study of primary school children in the Kilimanjaro region found hearing impairment prevalence high enough to warrant systematic intervention, yet no national programme exists. The result is that the majority of deaf and hard of hearing people in East Africa navigate the healthcare system — clinics, pharmacies, hospitals — without communication support of any kind. Sign language interpreters in clinical settings are almost entirely absent.

The broader African context makes the individual consultation a moment of compounded disadvantage. Africa loses an estimated $27.1 billion annually due to the economic impact of unaddressed hearing impairment. Deaf and hard of hearing people in Kenya and Tanzania who cannot follow medical instructions are more likely to misuse medication, miss follow-up appointments, and receive delayed diagnoses — costs that fall hardest on individuals with the fewest resources.