Page 3484 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 15 November 2006
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Without such programs the average age of detection of significant hearing loss is approximately 14 months.
According to the NHMRC, the level of prevalence of hearing impairment affects between one to two and 5.7 children per 1,000 live births. Applying this finding to the ACT, it means that we can expect that between five and 25 babies born each year will have some level of hearing impairment. The role of universal newborn hearing screening is to reduce the educational and developmental impact of permanent childhood hearing impairment for these children and their families.
Universal hearing screening is also an investment in the future of our society, as early detection and referral maximises outcomes and reduces financial costs on families, the health system and the community. Most importantly, it gives those children with hearing impairment the chance to reach their full potential through early intervention and management strategies.
Of course, screening is only part of the picture. The availability of appropriate services to meet the needs of children with hearing impairment is essential. Without these services, the benefits of hearings tests are minimised. The first infant hearing screening program in Australia was established in Victoria in 1992. It was not a newborn hearing screening program in which the test was performed at birth. Nevertheless, it was designed to provide early detection and intervention strategies for infants before one year of age. In Western Australia a trial into universal newborn hearing screening, funded by the state government, began in 2000. The Western Australian program was extended to a number of centres, with the aim to detect and initiate intervention procedures by six months of age.
The newly formed National Newborn Hearing Screening Committee began lobbying the commonwealth government in 2004 to ensure that every Australian child born with significant hearing loss has access to early detection and intervention services. Universal hearing screening programs have now been established in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and, to a limited extent, the Northern Territory.
Until now, the implementation of newborn hearing screening at a national level has not been realised. The struggle for national coordination continues. Universal hearing screening is now mandated in the United States of America, all of the UK and a majority of countries within Europe. Data is accumulating about the effectiveness of such programs. Interestingly, the prevalence of deafness detectable at birth is common throughout the world.
Obviously, for any screening program to be successful it must be universal. The ACT experience with newborn hearing screening dates back to February 2002, with the establishment of a program at the Canberra Hospital. At that time a targeted program was designed to screen all high-risk infants from the centre of newborn care or those with a recognised hearing impairment. The program was later extended to include routine screening of all newborn infants prior to hospital discharge.
Recurrent funding by the Stanhope government for a period of four years was provided for the first phase of the service, totalling $479,000. By October 2004, and in accordance with the ACT government’s commitment to the universal newborn
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