On March 1st, coinciding with the 25th National Ear Care Day, Tencent hosted a public welfare event themed "Technology Aids Hearing, Protecting Health". Under the guidance of the Ideological, Political Work and Rights Protection Department of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, the China Aging Development Foundation, in collaboration with Tencent and other partners, initiated the "Warm Hearts for Veterans, Watchful Support - Veterans Hearing Care Program". This initiative aims to deliver hearing health services to 20,000 retired veterans nationwide over the next two years. It's understood that the program's first phase kicked off in June 2023, in the provinces of Hunan, Guangxi, and Henan. By January 31, 2024, approximately 4,000 retired veterans had received a comprehensive suite of digital hearing health care services, including digital hearing health screening, professional audiological fitting services available both offline and online, and Tencent's Tianlai inside hearing aids.
"Project 'Warmth for Veterans, Watchful Assistance—Veterans' Hearing Care Program' Officially Launched
Deputy Director Zhang Bai of the Department of Ideological and Political Affairs and Rights Protection of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs stated, 'This year, the China Aging Development Foundation, in collaboration with Tencent, has allocated funds and materials worth 68 million CNY to carry out activities for the care of the hearing-impaired and provide hearing care services. This fully reflects deep friendship and commitment to the work of veterans, effectively demonstrating the mission and responsibility of supporting national defense and the modernization of the military.'
Tencent's Vice President of Sustainable Social Value and Head of Tencent SSV Silver Hair Technology Lab, Dou Ruigang, introduced that in 2024, Tencent will continue to collaborate with the China Aging Development Foundation, Beijing Hearing Association, as well as hearing aid manufacturers such as Anpai Sheng, ZhiTing, Rui Sheng Da, Zuo Dian, to conduct larger-scale activities promoting hearing health for retired veterans. The 'Helping Retired Veterans Hear Again' project was also launched on Tencent's public welfare platform on February 27.
According to the 7th National Population Census and the report on the 'Current Situation and Development Trends of Hearing Health in China,' it is estimated that there are about 120 million elderly people over the age of 65 in China with hearing impairments, of which approximately 63 million require intervention with hearing aids. However, due to low self-check rates, lack of knowledge about hearing health, and the high cost of hearing intervention, the intervention rate for hearing impairments in the elderly in China is less than 6%. Hearing loss significantly reduces the quality of life for the elderly.
During the event, Tencent Meeting's Tianlai Lab announced the comprehensive opening of the Tencent Tianlai Remote Hearing Service Platform to all hearing aid manufacturers and upstream chip providers. Tencent also released the 'Silver Hair Hearing Health Digital Intervention Plan' and initiated special public welfare donation actions for disadvantaged retired veterans, in response to this year's World Hearing Day theme of 'Technological Assistance, Sharing a Better Life.' The initiative aims to promote hearing health knowledge, enhance awareness, reduce and control hearing loss and disabilities, and contribute to the high-quality development of the '14th Five-Year Plan' for the prevention and rehabilitation of hearing disabilities.
Digital Core Silver Hair Hearing Health Intervention Plan
Wan Min, President of the Beijing Hearing Association, shared, 'The current situation of age-related hearing loss in China presents characteristics such as a high incidence rate, low recognition rate, and low treatment rate. There are significant regional differences in the incidence and treatment level, requiring joint efforts from the government, medical institutions, and society to increase awareness and attention to age-related hearing loss and improve the coverage of hearing detection and treatment, thus improving the hearing health of the elderly.'
In 2023, Tencent SSV Silver Hair Technology Lab and Tencent Meeting Tianlai Lab collaborated with internal and external partners to explore a digital intervention plan covering hearing health education, screening, hearing aid fitting, and continuous services. 'We hope to leverage Tencent's technology and platform advantages to enhance the cost-effectiveness and service efficiency of hearing aid products by providing Tencent Meeting's Tianlai audio AI technology and remote fitting service platform to hearing aid manufacturers. Simultaneously, we aim to provide a complete digital product solution externally, supporting large-scale hearing health promotion activities and realizing a new model of early screening and intervention for hearing health,' said Dou Ruigang.
The Tencent Silver Hair Hearing Health Digital Intervention Plan includes the Silver Hair Hearing Health Mini Program, Tianlai Inside self-developed hearing aid algorithm, and the Tencent Meeting Remote Hearing Service Platform, among other digital product suites.
The Silver Hair Hearing Health Mini Program is the first domestically approved digital audiometry product that has completed calibration, hearing comparison tests, and simulation of hearing loss. It integrates hearing screening, hearing health education, and hearing loss simulation, providing essential tools for large-scale user screening at the grassroots level. In 2023, more than 80,000 elderly people nationwide underwent hearing tests using this Mini Program. Among them, over 60,000 were online users with an average age of 55, and a hearing loss rate of 41%. Additionally, more than 20,000 elderly people participated in offline community tests, with an average age of 70 and a hearing loss rate as high as 78%. Among these elderly individuals, the proportion requiring hearing aid intervention approached 22%. The data clearly shows that as the age of the elderly increases, the urgency of hearing loss intervention becomes more critical.
Tianlai Inside hearing aids, based on Tencent Meeting Tianlai Lab's fully self-developed core algorithm solution for hearing aids, improve the clarity and intelligibility of speech in complex environments by 85%. On this year's World Hearing Day, the Tianlai Inside self-developed hearing aid algorithm solution has been upgraded. Technologically, it not only significantly enhances howling suppression capabilities but also better reduces confusion between sounds, providing a more authentic environmental perception for users. On the product side, in addition to the popular RIC-style hearing aids in the medical-grade market, user-friendly neck-hanging hearing aids and bean-shaped hearing aids that reduce user wear resistance will be added.
The Tencent Tianlai Remote Hearing Service Platform, based on Tencent Meeting's audio-video capabilities, allows fitting specialists to initiate hearing aid fitting services with one click through the Tianlai Remote Hearing Service Platform in the Tencent Meeting application market. Hearing-impaired individuals can sit at home, join Tencent Meeting, and efficiently complete hearing aid fitting under the guidance of professional fitting specialists in real-time. This World Hearing Day, Tencent Tianlai Remote Hearing Service Platform is fully open to the public. Hearing aid manufacturers using the Tianlai Inside solution will directly have access to the Tianlai Remote Hearing Service capability. For non-Tianlai Inside hearing aid manufacturers, after simple adaptation according to the open protocol, their own brand hearing aids can also have remote hearing service capability. In addition, relevant hearing aid chip suppliers will receive support to adapt communication protocols for remote hearing services, allowing hearing aids using these chips to have the Tianlai Remote Hearing Service capability.
'The continuous upgrading of the Tianlai Inside solution and the ongoing implementation of the Tencent Tianlai Remote Hearing Service Platform, combined with the Tianlai Action jointly promoted by the Silver Hair Technology Lab, have formed a preliminary closed loop of the Silver Hair Hearing Health Service in multiple cities nationwide, including Shaoguan, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Wuhan, and Shandong, establishing a sound product feedback and optimization mechanism,' said Shang Shidong, Director of Tencent Meeting Tianlai Lab. 'In the future, the Tianlai Action will collaborate with more upstream and downstream partners, deeply practice the Tencent technology for good philosophy, centering around users, comprehensively promote technological breakthroughs and product innovations in the field of hearing health, enhance the quality and efficiency of remote fitting services, and open up broader imaginative space for the hearing aid solutions for the hearing-impaired, along with many other peers, to help more hearing-impaired individuals 'hear the world clearly.'" Continuing to Advance the Construction of Community Hearing Intervention Service Network
Centenarian Chen Shucheng, residing in Xuchang City, Henan Province, participated in multiple battles, including the Korean War, where his hearing was damaged due to the impact of gunfire and artillery. In June 2023, Chen Shucheng became part of the "Warmth for Veterans, Mutual Assistance—Veterans' Hearing Care Plan." With the support of the China Aging Development Foundation and the Xuchang Bureau of Veterans Affairs, the staff used Tencent's Silver Hair Hearing Health app to conduct a hearing test and provided him with a pair of hearing aids. Now, the elderly man can communicate normally with his family.
In 2023, under government guidance, Tencent collaborated deeply with the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, civil affairs, and health systems. Leveraging the community elderly care network and Tencent's digital toolkit, the initiative supported communities in conducting large-scale hearing health promotion activities, offering "early screening and intervention" hearing health services for the elderly.
"Traditional hearing screening required the elderly to go to a hospital's soundproof testing room, operated by staff trained for months. A single test took over 20 minutes, challenging the patience of the elderly. In the new model, with digital tools, trained staff can conduct screenings in community service centers, health centers, elderly care stations, or relatively quiet environments, extending services beyond hospitals and benefiting more elderly individuals," said Jì Fēi, Deputy Researcher at the National Clinical Research Center for Otorhinolaryngology Diseases and Director of the Clinical Hearing Center.
In Shenzhen's Longgang District, Tencent collaborated with the National Clinical Research Center for Otorhinolaryngology Diseases, Longgang District Community Health Service Management Center, and Longgang District Ear, Nose, and Throat Hospital. They successfully completed hearing tests for 3,000 people in community health service centers. The plan for 2024 is to integrate hearing screening into the elderly health checkups at the Longgang Public Health-Community Health Service Center, conducting hearing tests for 20,000 elderly individuals in Longgang. This initiative aims to further expand the penetration and coverage of hearing tests in the regional elderly population, raising the overall hearing health level.
In 2024, Tencent collaborates with the Civil Affairs Bureau in Wuhu, planning to provide hearing health intervention services for 10,000 elderly residents. Innovatively linking with civil aid leasing policies, the initiative connects elderly care service centers with community aid leasing stations. This allows the elderly to conveniently undergo hearing screenings at community care stations, and in collaboration with SmartHear Technology, explores a new model for hearing aid leasing. This enables hearing-impaired individuals to try and lease hearing aids at nearby community aid leasing stations, encouraging every elderly person to pay attention to their hearing health, achieving "early detection, early intervention."
"With the aging population becoming a fundamental national reality, China has the highest number of hearing-impaired individuals globally, with age-related hearing loss ranking first among the causes of hearing disabilities. We hope more compassionate enterprises and societal forces join hands to continue creating one heartwarming and sustainable smart livelihood project after another, benefiting more elderly groups and helping them integrate into the digital world, returning to a world filled with sound," stated Yu Jianwei, Chairman of the China Aging Development Foundation.
