Press Release
June 16, 2008

Loren lends ear on kids with hearing problems

SEN. Loren Legarda yesterday urged the creation of a universal newborn hearing screening program for the prevention, early diagnosis and intervention of hearing loss among children.

Loren, vice chair of the Senate committee on health, said measure, Senate Bill No 2390, is an investment, a message that countries that want to stay competitive have to make health care, particularly of children, a banner, a centerpiece issue.

"There is a subtext to this great health care initiative of the developed countries. It says invest in the young; put in place the total infrastructure that will make them healthy, to make them productive and active citizens in the future, and to make sure the next generation of citizens are vibrant participants in the national - or global - arena," said Loren endorsing the bill, a product of the joint collaboration of health and demography and finance committees.

It is in this context, she said, that the two committees in a joint report were pushing for the measure.

"It is a frontier initiative for young Filipinos. It makes economic sense. It is also a moral imperative," she said. "When citizens are healthy, the budget for fighting disease, outbreaks, treatment and rehabilitation can be diverted into more productive concerns such as education, food production and infrastructure modernization."

Loren said the proposed law seeks to put in place a hearing screening program for the newborns so that all the newborns diagnosed with hearing loss can be given appropriate and timely treatment.

When undiagnosed before six months, she said children with significant congenital hearing loss develop speech and language delays, do poorly in school and may suffer psychosocially due to feeling of isolation and low-esteem.

"Thus, early diagnosis and intervention of congenital hearing loss is the goal of universal newborn hearing screening in order to prevent the morbidity caused by late detection and habilitation. This is the central message of the proposed measure," she said.

To institutionalize this, the proposed law would mandate hospitals to test newborn babies for hearing loss before they are discharged. It should be the responsibility of the parents and the doctors attending to the newly-born to make sure that hearing loss tests are performed, she said.

For babies born outside of hospitals, Loren said the health practitioners that assisted in the delivery shall have the obligation to inform the parents or guardians that there is a law on mandatory hearing loss screening and shall likewise ensure that newborns are screened within three months of life.

The Department of Health is then tasked by the proposed measure to be the lead agency in the implementation of the universal hearing loss screening.

To ensure the effective implementation of the proposed law and facilitate inter-agency coordination in the areas of enforcement, monitoring, data banking and training, the DOH is also required to work closely with the inter-agency advisory committee on newborn hearing screening.

The Philippine Medical Association, the Philippine Hospitals Association, the Philippine Pediatrics Society, various medical and health organizations, and government agencies shall be represented in the inter-agency committee.

The proposed law seeks the establishment of newborn screening centers, with the technical and medical standards formulated by the National Institutes of Health and the health department.

"Health care, in the ideal world, should be universal, mandatory, encompassing. No sector, or section of the population, should be left behind, Loren said.

"It should be a cradle-to-grave undertaking, starting with the newborn."

News Latest News Feed