The Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS, from the Portuguese Sistema Único de Saúde) provides free hearing aids (HAs), including otological evaluation, audiological therapy, audiological exams, and ear molds through authorized centers. In addition to the complexity and high investment costs, there is no centralized government agency to manage these resources, so each authorized center works on its own....
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
No actionable change for individual clinicians — this is a health-systems analysis relevant to policymakers and public audiology program administrators in Brazil.
Identifying operational and data-governance failures in a large public hearing-aid program highlights systemic barriers to equitable hearing care access in low- and middle-income health systems.
- 01Brazil's Unified Health System (SUS) provides free hearing aids, but the program has documented operational gaps.
- 02Hearing-aid replacement costs represent a significant and underexamined financial burden on the system.
- 03Data governance weaknesses limit the ability to monitor program quality and outcomes.
- 04Findings could inform policy reform to improve efficiency and equity of hearing aid provision.
- 05Relevant to other countries running publicly funded hearing aid programs.
Brazil's public hearing aid program (SUS) has significant operational gaps that undermine service delivery.
studypartially supportedData governance deficiencies in SUS prevent adequate monitoring of hearing aid program outcomes.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42683413
- DOI
- 10.1055/a-2858-5997.
- Journal
- HNO (Laryngo-Rhino-Otologie)
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 4
- Population
- Hearing aid program data within Brazil's Unified Health System (SUS)
- Intervention
- Analysis of public hearing aid policy implementation and costs
Primary outcomes
Operational gaps in hearing aid provision; Hearing aid replacement costs; Data governance quality
