Screening of new-borns for hearing defects must: Doctors

Aurangabad: Testing of the hearing capacity of the new-born children should be made mandatory, doctors said here on Saturday, adding that it would lead to early treatment of hearing as well as speech problems.

Many other countries have made hearing screening mandatory, said Dr Milind Kirtane, addressing the media on the occasion of international weeek of the deaf.

If the hearing loss is deteced in the first three months of the birth, treatment can start early and such children can develop speaking capacity as well as the normal children, he said.

Dr Priya Bhale, audiologist and speech and language therapist, said a child learns to speak after hearing sounds in the surrounding environment, but hearing impairment hinders this process, hence screening is necessary.

PTI