World Hearing Day

🌺Dr Milind Kirtane, an award winning otorhinolaryngologist and Padma Shri Awardee ENT surgeon emphasizes the need for UNHS on occasion of the World Hearing Day…

🌺The sense of hearing is one of the most important of all senses.

• Congenital hearing loss affects 30 per 10,000 children.
• Significant hearing loss is seen in 1 to 2 newborns per 1000 in the general population and 24% to 46% of newborns admitted to NICU
• Out of every 1000 children born in India, there may be 5-6 children who cannot hear properly
• The most important period of language development is the first two to three years of life
  If the baby has a hearing loss, the process of developing language can be delayed
• Stimulation must be delivered to the auditory system within a narrow window of time (critical period) for the system to develop normally (auditory plasticity)
• Early identification is the key to effective management: catch them young
• Detection of hearing loss by Universal Newborn Hearing Screening rather than targeted “high risk” screening is ideal
• The best time to screen hearing is before 1 month of age, to confirm hearing loss is before 3 months and to start intervention is before 6 months of age (1-3-6)
• It is important to screen for hearing loss even beyond newborn period in children and adolescents for conditions that manifest with a delayed change or acquired causes.
• These will promote positive long-term outcomes in language, cognitive, and academic development as well as overall quality of life in hearing impaired children.