Call to screen all newborn babies

KUALA LUMPUR: All newborn babies should be screened for hearing defects, say medical experts. Datin Dr Siti Sabzah Hashim said that 50% of newborn hearing problems were detected from screening high-risk babies, but the rest from the “normal” group were missed out until it was too late for early intervention.

“It would be good if all babies are screened,” she said at a conference here yesterday. Three to four in 1,000 babies are born with hearing problems and it is important to detect them for early intervention programmes to take place.