Ansari Mohammad Shamim
AYJNIHSD (D), K.C. Marg, Bandra (W), Mumbai, 400050 India.
Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2022 Dec;74(Suppl 3):4150-4158. doi: 10.1007/s12070-021-02873-6. Epub 2021 Sep 24.
Hearing impairment is most frequent sensory deficit present in infants at birth and unaddressed hearing impairment causes severe damages to both infants and their families. In India 77,756 live children are born per day which accounts for about 25 million children annually among them approximately 1.5 lacs (@ 6 per1000) children born with hearing impairment. These children have no prospects of early identification & intervention. As a result, majority of these children suffers from oral communication difficulties, poor academic performance, reduced psychosocial & cognitive development, socioeconomic insufficiency, deprived vocational opportunities & employability. However, consequences of hearing impairment are ameliorable if timely hearing screening and effective intervention strategies are instituted. Unfortunately, India has not yet envisaged any dedicated early identification and intervention program for children with hearing impairment. However, there are ample of opportunities for implementing such program. Hence, this paper endeavours to address the necessity to plan and to implement the early identification of hearing impairment by discussing burden of disorder, suggesting means to overcome the challenges and to explore and emphasize the opportunities of purposeful utilization of available infrastructure and resources. This paper also intends to suggest a conceptual framework for planning and implementing of National Infant Screening for Hearing Program to deal with serious consequences of hearing impairment in India.
听力障碍是婴儿出生时最常见的感觉缺陷，未得到解决的听力障碍会对婴儿及其家庭造成严重损害。在印度，每天有77756名活产儿童出生，每年约有2500万儿童，其中约15万（每1000名中有6名）儿童出生时患有听力障碍。这些儿童没有早期识别和干预的机会。因此，这些儿童中的大多数都存在口语交流困难、学业成绩差、心理社会和认知发展受限、社会经济不足、职业机会和就业能力缺乏等问题。然而，如果及时进行听力筛查并制定有效的干预策略，听力障碍的后果是可以改善的。不幸的是，印度尚未设想针对听力障碍儿童的任何专门的早期识别和干预计划。然而，实施此类计划有很多机会。因此，本文致力于通过讨论疾病负担、提出克服挑战的方法以及探索和强调有目的地利用现有基础设施和资源的机会，来阐述规划和实施听力障碍早期识别的必要性。本文还旨在为规划和实施全国婴儿听力筛查计划提出一个概念框架，以应对印度听力障碍的严重后果。
