Recognising the need for expanding the Newborn Screening Programme (NBS), the Mysuru-based All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH) has joined hands with the Department of Health and Family Welfare for sensitising the medical teams working under Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) and District Early Intervention Centre (DEIC) on screening communication disorders in children.
According to AIISH, children born with hearing loss will not develop speech since they don’t hear it. While the global standards prescribe that hearing loss should be confirmed by two months of age and treated by three months of age, the age of identification in India is late (beyond 3 years). “Such late identification is a hurdle in the successful management of children with hearing loss,” states the AIISH, a premier institute under the aegis of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GoI.
The institute developed a dedicated NBS through which infants are screened for speech, language and hearing disorders within a few days of their birth at bedside in 17 hospitals in Mysuru city and 30 outreach service centers. Each month, more than 6,000 newborns are screened through the programme and children at risk for speech, language and hearing disorders are identified well within one month of their birth. However, around 65,000 infants are born each day in the country calling for expansion of the NBS programme.
In this connection, the AIISH has taken up the initiative of early screening of newborns for identification of communication disorders.
The initiative was launched at the AIISH here on Wednesday. District Health Officer K.H. Prasad, UNICEF-SBCC Programme Regional Director Ravish B., and Jayanth M.S., District RCH Officer were present. AIISH Director M. Pushpavathi presided.
About 3 in 1,000 newborns are known to have permanent hearing loss. These infants typically won’t have any overt signs due to which the hearing loss goes undetected unless a hearing screening test is conducted. It is important to know that hearing loss can be accurately identified right at birth through audiological tests, the institute said in a note.
AIISH has collaborated with District Early Intervention Center (DEIC), Mysuru district as it aims to conduct newborn screening in the eight taluk hospitals on a quarterly basis. The DEIC team has agreed to take the responsibility of bringing the infants born in the last three months to the taluk hospitals on a specified day. The AIISH team would visit the taluk hospitals on that day to conduct newborn screening and identify at-risk infants, the institute announced.
“By these efforts, more infants and geographical regions would be benefitting from the AIISH’s NBS program. Those identified through this screening program will be treated either in DEIC or AIISH as per the convenience of the patients,” according to AIISH.
Dr. Prasad, in his address, said the collaboration will have a greater impact on the society as it aims to address children at an early age with communication disorders. “It is a good initiative as the screening is done at birth. The screening in the private sector already exists but it will now become a part of the system in the public healthcare sector as well. AIISH is the technical partner to the initiative and we shall implement it with structural support in assistance of AIISH,” he said.
