More than one million cochlear implants have been provided worldwide. Yet estimates suggest that only 2.5% to 20% of the people who could benefit from one actually receive one. Access to surgery is only part of the picture. People also need timely assessment, skilled mapping and rehabilitation, reliable maintenance, and support throughout their lives.

These questions matter here in New Zealand. Who is missing out? Are cochlear implant services securely and sustainably funded? What happens after implantation? And are the experiences of cochlear implant users and their whānau helping to shape the services and policies that affect them?

Frontiers in Audiology and Otology, together with the Cochlear Implant International Community of Action (CIICA), has launched a call for contributions for a new international research collection exploring where science, policy and lived experience meet.

The collection will focus on improving assessment and access, the cost-effectiveness of cochlear implants, support across the lifespan, bilateral implantation, single-sided deafness, tinnitus, service innovation and, importantly, what cochlear implant users and their families say needs to change.

Pindrop welcomes this focus on turning existing evidence and real-world experience into practical policy and stronger, more sustainable cochlear implant services.

Original call for contributions published by Frontiers in Audiology and Otology and developed with CIICA. Accessed 4 September 2026. Read the original call for contributions here.

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