Wednesday, January 31, 2001

Newborn hearing screening now available to all Georgia babies

Starting this year, all babies born in Georgia hospitals will be screened for hearing loss before they are discharged.

This will allow for early treatment that can give a child the best possible opportunity to learn and communicate. At least 300 babies are born with hearing loss in Georgia each year.

Funded by $2 million from the tobacco lawsuit settlement, plus federal and state funds and a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Georgia Department of Human Resources Division of Public Health has supplied hospitals with state-of-the-art screening equipment and training and developed a system to track the program's success.

The program is mandated by legislation passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Roy Barnes in 1999.

"It's exciting that babies in Georgia who have hearing loss are now much more likely to get help early, when it does the most good," says Kathleen E. Toomey, director of the Division of Public Health. "Eighty percent of a child's language ability is established by the age of 18 months. Hearing usually plays an important role in that learning process, so finding and treating a problem right away can make a big difference. Children with early hearing loss that goes undetected may later need long-term, expensive, special education services."

A state advisory committee guided the program's implementation and will monitor its success. The committee includes pediatricians, audiologists, a hospital administrator, adults who are deaf or hearing impaired, parents with children who are deaf or hearing impaired, and legislators.

A brochure, "Have you heard?" explaining the importance of the screening, is being distributed to parents of newborns.

For more information about newborn hearing screening in Georgia, see http://health.state.ga.us./programs/UNHS or contact Lee Tanenbaum, acting coordinator, Newborn Hearing Screening Program, at 404-657-4143.