Previously, only Shanghai Xinhua Hospital and Shanghai Children's Medical Center provided an extensive check of the hearing of all newborns.

Now all of Shanghai's maternity institutes, children's hospitals and pediatric departments will offer "full-scale screening" of newborns' hearing.

They will also focus more on treating children who are deaf, including training them how to speak and, with the help of hearing aids, how to listen.

The new initiatives come as the city Health Bureau yesterday officially established three child-care institutes - the Newborn Hearing Screening Management Center, the Children's Hearing Deficiency Treatment Center and the Children's Hearing Deficiency Inspection and Rehabilitation Center.

Yesterday was China's third annual Care-for-Your-Ears Day.

Some 250 doctors from all maternity institutes, children's hospitals and hospitals with an obstetrics or pediatrics department have received training at Shanghai Children's Medical Center, home to the three centers. All the 100 medical facilities whose doctors underwent the training are the first line for minimizing hearing problems that local children might have, officials said.

Statistics from Shanghai Children's Medical Center show that among the 20 million people in China who are deaf, more than 800,000 are younger than 7. Their numbers grow annually by 30,000, officials said. In Shanghai, as many as 250 babies are born every year who suffer from congenital deafness.

There are 3,500 deaf children in the city, statistics indicate. "None was discovered to be deaf until they were 4 or 5, when they had already passed the best time for treatment and language training," said Xu Fengjian, vice secretary-general for Shanghai Disabled Persons' Federation. "Being deaf and mute tarnishes their life, as they have problems socializing and learning."

Dr. Shen Xiaoming, president of Shanghai Children's Medical Center, added: "Actually, half of the deaf children could have avoided their condition if they had undergone early diagnosis within six months of being born."

(eastday March 4, 2002)