Qatar - 67,000 babies screened for hearing problems

Citation

(2008), "Qatar - 67,000 babies screened for hearing problems", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 21 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2008.06221fab.009

Qatar - 67,000 babies screened for hearing problems

Article Type: News and views From: International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Volume 21, Issue 6

Keywords Early detection, Public awareness, Training and development

The Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) will conduct hearing tests for all schoolchildren in Qatar this year as part of its ongoing National Programme for Early Detection of Hearing Loss, a senior official from the Audiology and Balance Unit said yesterday.

The tests will be conducted at schools to reduce crowding at the HMC facility, said Dr Khalid Abdul Hadi, the head of the Unit.

More than 67,000 newborns have so far been screened under this programme, which is one of the first such campaigns in the world, launched by HMC in 2003. More than 1,920 hearing loss cases were detected among the newborns, of which 1,161 were successfully treated, he added.

Following the screening, 759 cases of congenital sensor neural hearing loss were treated by hearing aides while 26 cases were treated by cochleae implantation. Another 43 cases are now on the waiting list for the cochleae implantation.

He was giving a presentation during the opening of the new diagnosis center of the Audiology and Balance Unit at the Hamad Medical City yesterday.

The national programme aims at early detection and medical intervention to prevent hearing disabilities. It has laid down a comprehensive strategy for testing all children in the country, by establishing special clinics for testing newborns and children who didn’t receive the service at primary health care centres.

The national programme is being implemented in three phases, said Abdul Hadi. In the first phase, hearing tests are being conducted on all newborns at the Women’s Hospital before they are discharged from the hospital.

The second phase features hearing tests on all children aged two to three months along with the first vaccination.

These tests take place at the primary health care centres. This phase is followed by the pre-school hearing tests.

The campaign also features a special programme for public awareness, covering all community sectors, through lectures, workshops, and awareness campaigns. The programme covers eight major primary health centres across the country, besides the Hamad General Hospital (Newborn Clinic), Women’s Hospital and Al Khor Hospital.

Special emphasis has been laid on training and developing the national cadre and more than 25 testing technicians have been trained on the initial hearing tests as well on how to deal with the families, said Abdul Hadi.

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