Egypt’s Ministry of Health and Population announced on Saturday that 2.36 million newborns underwent audiological examination as part of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s initiative for early detection and treatment of hearing loss since September 2019.
Of those, 6,609 non-citizen children residing in Egypt were examined as part of the initiative.
Spokesperson for the Health Ministry, Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, stated that 133,901 children were transferred for re-examination through a confirmatory test, a week after the first examination in the same unit, adding that 12,980 children were transferred after the second test to hospitals nationwide. He explained that those children underwent further evaluation, and were offered hearing aid or cochlear implantation.
The number of audiological examination centres for children from the day of birth to the age of 28 days, has increased to 3,500 health units nationwide.
Abdel Ghaffar pointed out that the child’s failure to pass the second test in most cases does not mean that he has a hearing loss, but that he needs advanced tests at the referral centers of the initiative, stressing that early detection of hearing impairment or loss avoids hearing impairment and facilitates treatment opportunities.
He further added that the birth certificate has been updated and the auditory examination box has been included in it, and registration is done through the birth database and the vaccination file, with the aim of creating a complete file for the child that includes his health condition and ensure his safety.
