Newborn Hearing Screening Program
Hearing loss is known to be one of the most common disabilities among newborns. Prevalence studies worldwide revealed that approximately 1-4 infants per 1,000 live births are affected. A study conducted in a rural population in Bulacan in 2004 also revealed that 1 per 724 babies are born with bilateral severe to profound hearing loss. Thus, 0.14% or 8 of the babies born daily are estimated to have profound deafness in our country alone. Republic Act 9709, or the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Intervention Act of 2008 (UNHS), establishes a program whose primary thrust is for the prevention, early diagnosis, and early intervention of hearing loss through requiring all newborns to have access to hearing screening. This program helps facilitate the early detection of hearing loss experienced by the 0.14% of newborn babies in the whole country.
