27/02/2025 | 07:00 CET | Group Announcements
With World Hearing Day on March 3 approaching, Sonova Holding AG (SWX: SOON) is participating in global efforts to promote hearing health. Recognizing the significant impact of hearing loss, which affects nearly 1.5 billion people world-wide,1 Sonova is committed to addressing this critical public health issue through continuous innovation and education efforts. This commitment also involves supporting the initiatives of its employee-led Hearing Loss Network.
Stäfa (Switzerland), February 27, 2025 – This year’s World Hearing Day theme, "Changing mindsets: empower yourself to make ear and hearing care a reality for all!" encourages proactive steps for hearing health. By 2050, it is projected that more than 700 million people—about 1 in every 10—will experience disabling hearing loss1, making hearing technology innovation essential. Over the past 30 years, the hearing instruments industry has made significant technological advancements, continuously improving user benefits and addressing unmet needs. As a global leader, Sonova has been at the forefront of these breakthroughs, introducing the first directional microphone technology, Bluetooth connectivity, rechargeable instruments, and AI for personalized fitting. Sonova’s latest platform Phonak Audéo™ Sphere Infinio employs real-time Artificial Intelligence to address the most pressing need of people with hearing loss: understanding speech in background noise2.
Empowering employees and acknowledging their efforts
“At Sonova, our commitment to improving lives through healthy hearing is at the heart of everything we do,” says Arnd Kaldowski, CEO of Sonova and President of EHIMA, the European Hearing Instruments Manufacturing Association. “I am deeply grateful for the dedication and hard work of all our employees, including our many audiologists in our hearing care clinics and stores, as well as our product innovation experts. Their energy, expertise and passion drive our success as an innovative company and make a significant impact on the lives of those we serve. World Hearing Day is here to also underscore the importance of customer service and excellence in hearing care. This is why I want to extend a special Thank You to all colleagues who every day, take care so diligently of those in need of better hearing.”
In connection with World Hearing Day on March 3, the Hearing Loss Network, one of the main employee-led resource groups at Sonova, organizes events in different global locations to raise awareness about the importance of hearing care. Among the members of the Hearing Loss Network, Jacqueline Drexler shares her personal journey: “I take charge of my hearing health by using both a cochlear implant and a hearing aid and surround myself with a network of allies.” She adds, “Inspired by my own experiences and the encouragement I received is why I chose to become an audiologist so I can help others better navigate their hearing loss journey.”
The critical role of hearing health
Hearing health is vital for social, emotional, and cognitive well-being. Addressing hearing health unlocks a wealth of benefits that improves mental clarity, interpersonal relationships, and overall physical well-being, helping people feel more connected and secure in their environment3. Using hearing aids improves auditory clarity4, empowering individuals to engage in a more active social and physical life5, nurture brain health6,7, and ultimately enriching health-related quality of life8.
Despite these benefits, hearing health is often not taken seriously, leading to untreated hearing loss which can impact quality of life1. Raising awareness and promoting proactive hearing care are essential steps towards mitigating this issue. Read more about how to prevent and recognize hearing loss, and find resources to share important messages around hearing loss awareness:
Sonova: https://www.sonova.com/en/world-hearing-day-2025
World Health Organization: https://worldhearingday.org/
1World Health Organization. (2021). World report on hearing. Geneva: World Health Organization. Available at:
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240020481. Last accessed: February 2025
2Wright, A., Seitz-Paquette, K., Kühnel, V., Latzel, M., Keller, M., Miller, A., Hobi, S., & Launer, S. (2024). Improving speech understanding and listening effort for complex environments with a novel noise reduction system [Scientific Poster]. Phonak Field Study News. https://www.phonak.com/evidence
Real-time AI means that the AI DNN (Deep Neural Network) has been trained on sound samples to separate speech from background noise by processing the audio signal in real-time. This approach is fundamentally different from the use of AI for sound or acoustic scene classification, which is used in current hearing aids in the market. The real-time AI signal processing is performed by the DEEPSONIC™ chip, which is included in the Phonak Audéo Sphere Infinio platform together with the Phonak ERA™ chip.
3Vercammen, C., Ferguson, M., Kramer, S.E., Meis, M., Singh, G., Timmer, B., Gagné, J-P., Goy, H., Hickson, L., Holube, I., Launer, S., Lemke, U., Naylor, G., Picou, E., Scherpiet,S., Weinstein, B., & Pelosi, A. (2020). Well-Hearing is Well-Being: A Phonak Position Statement. Hearing Review, 27, 18-22.
4Ferguson, M. A., Kitterick, P. T., Chong, L. Y., Edmondson‐Jones, M., Barker, F., & Hoare, D. J. (2017). Hearing aids for mild to moderate hearing loss in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (9). https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD012023.pub2
5Holman, J. A., Drummond, A., & Naylor, G. (2021). Hearing Aids Reduce Daily-Life Fatigue and Increase Social Activity: A Longitudinal Study. Trends in Hearing, 25, 23312165211052786. https://doi.org/10.1177/23312165211052786
6Lin, F. R., Pike, J. R., Albert, M. S., Arnold, M., Burgard, S., Chisolm, T., … Coresh, J. (2023). Hearing intervention versus health education control to reduce cognitive decline in older adults with hearing loss in the USA (ACHIEVE): a multicentre, randomised controlled trial. The Lancet, 402(10404), 786–797. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)01406-X
7Sarant, J. Z., Busby, P. A., Schembri, A. J., Fowler, C., & Harris, D. C. (2024). ENHANCE: a comparative prospective longitudinal study of cognitive outcomes after 3 years of hearing aid use in older adults. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 15, 1302185.
8Chisolm, T. H., Johnson, C. E., Danhauer, J. L., Portz, L. J., Abrams, H. B., Lesner, S., ... Newman, C. W. (2007). A systematic review of health-related quality of life and hearing aids: final report of the American Academy of Audiology Task Force On the Health-Related Quality of Life Benefits of Amplification in Adults. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, 18(2), 151–183. https://doi.org/10.3766/jaaa.18.2.7
– End –