Copyright 2000 Gannett Company, Inc.
USA TODAY
April 4, 2000, Tuesday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: LIFE; Pg. 1D
LENGTH: 476 words
HEADLINE: A
hearing test is urged for every newborn Council hopes states get message loud
and clear
BYLINE: Anita Manning
BODY:
At least half of newborns in 24 states have
their hearing tested
before they leave the hospital. But despite efforts to
institute
universal screening, only 35% of infants are tested in American
hospitals, and 33 infants a day go home with undiagnosed hearing
loss,
says the National Campaign for Hearing Health.
The campaign, a
project of the Deafness Research Council, will
release a national report
card Wednesday at the launch of an initiative
to boost the number of babies
tested for hearing loss. Called
May Babies, in conjunction with Better
Speech and Hearing Month,
the project urges parents to make sure their
newborns are tested,
starting with babies born next month.
The
report card grades the 50 states, the District of Columbia
and Puerto Rico.
The marks range from "unsatisfactory" (Alaska,
Indiana, Nebraska and five
others) to "excellent" (Colorado,
Connecticut, Hawaii and six others), based
on whether there is
a statewide screening program, the quality of such
programs and
the percentage of newborns whose hearing is tested.
So far, 24 states have passed legislation requiring newborn
hearing
screening, and 13 others have such legislation in the
works.
"There clearly is momentum building for doing screening, but
there's still a long way to go," says Karl White of Utah State
University, who analyzed data for the report card.
Having a
state law on the books doesn't guarantee quality, White
says.
"Sometimes that legislation gets passed, but states still haven't
put a program in place," he says, and some states, notably Iowa,
have
been screening almost all new babies (97%) without a law
requiring it.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
announced
$ 3 million in grants to 22 states to expand and develop hearing
screening and intervention programs.
Peter C. van Dyck, director
of maternal and child health with
the Health Resources and Services
Administration, which announced
the HHS grants, says all states either have
or are developing
hearing screening programs for newborns. Many are just
getting
started.
"It's becoming universally accepted," he says,
because "people
are realizing how well babies do if they're diagnosed before
6
months" of age with a hearing loss.
And new screening tests
cost only $ 15 to $ 40 each, compared with
older tests that cost up to $ 600
per baby, White says.
Jack Wheeler, CEO of the Deafness Research
Council, says statewide
screening programs are important, but it's up to the
parents to
make sure a child is tested.
"We will never reach
100% (testing rate) in America unless it
is parents themselves who say, 'I
want my baby's hearing tested,
and I won't take no for an answer,' " he
says. His advice to
new parents: "Don't leave the hospital without knowing
if your
baby can hear."
LOAD-DATE: April 04,
2000 
