Egypt’s Minister of Health Hala Zayed announced, on Tuesday, that more than 1 million newborns have been examined during the presidential initiative of early detection of hearing impairment since its launch in 2019.
According to a statement by the Health Ministry, the initiative was launched in September 2019 and aims to examine all newborns in the country.
A total of 1,679 non-Egyptian newborns residing in Egypt have also been examined as part of the initiative, the ministry said. It added that the initiative was launched at 1,364 health units nationwide. It targets newborns from 1 day old to 28 days old.
A total of 67,993 infants were referred for confirmatory examination after a week from the first examination, the ministry said. A total 6,727 newborns were referred to hospitals in their birth place for further examination and treatment, and to receive hearing aid or conduct cochlear implant procedure if needed.
The ministry said that birth certificates have been updated with hearing impairment examination included, aiming to establish complete files for infants that include their health status.
The ministry receives citizens’ inquiries regarding the early hearing impairment detection on hotline 15335 affiliated to the “100 Million Health” initiative.
