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)