An Audiologist at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) has appealed for an Automated Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) equipment, for the screening of new-born babies to prevent permanent hearing loss.

Mrs. Jemima Addy put the cost of the machine at about 7,000 dollars and said it could pick the slightest trace of hearing impairment when hearing assessment was conducted on neonates.

The advantage is that this will allow for early corrective interventions before it gets too late.

“Hearing loss, she noted, could have “debilitating effects on speech, language, cognitive skills and psycho-social development of children but early identification and expert intervention can stem this.”

Mrs. Addy was speaking on “Paediatric Hearing Assessment,” at the Third General and Scientific Meeting put together by the Otorhinolaryngology Society of Ghana (ORLSOG), in Kumasi.

The Society is made up of Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialists and other professionals in related fields.

“Ten Years of Post-graduate ENT Training in Ghana,” was the theme.

Mrs. Addy explained that the ABR transcends the whole ear region to the brain, and offers a sure one-stop diagnosis.

It is a preferred option to the current arrangement under which the Orto Acoustic Emissions (OAE) machine being used only works up to the middle ear.

“This limitation will miss brain or nervous damage in high risk babies, like those born after delayed labour, as well as those asphyxiated and jaundiced, and this can cause permanent hearing loss,” she added.

Mrs Addy said with OAE machine, other cross-checks would have to combine with behavioral assessment before diagnosis could be arrived at, “but this happens when the children are about two or three years old.”