One in 10 Israelis is hard of hearing or deaf and, while about one baby per  1,000 is born deaf, one in three people over the age of 65 has inadequate  hearing. National Hearing Day, aimed at increasing awareness of the problem, was  marked on Tuesday, May 30th in various places around the country, including the  Knesset, where parliamentarians have been known to shout on occasion.

A  spokeperson for the Israel Health Ministry said that damage to hearing depends  not only on the level of noise but also the amount of time to which a person is  exposed to loud noise.

A media campaign was held on radio, in the  newspapers and on popular youth Web sites on the Internet. An exhibition of  hearing devices is on display at the Bekol Center in Tel Aviv [email protected]. Information about Bekol-  Organization of Hard of Hearing and Deafened People in Israel – can be viewed in  Hebrew at www.bekol.org or click on  the word “English” at Bekol.org to see an English version.