Section 3Sec./Art. 3

Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Program. - There is hereby established a Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Program (UNHSP) to institutionalize measures for the prevention and early diagnosis of congenital hearing loss among newborns, the provision of referral follow-up, recall and early intervention services to infants with hearing loss, and counseling and other support services for families of newborns with hearing loss, to afford them all the opportunities to be productive members of the community. The objectives of the UNHSP are:

(a)To ensure that all newborns have access to hearing loss screening;

(b)To establish a network among pertinent government and private sector stakeholders for policy development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation to promote universal newborn hearing screening program in the country;

(c)To provide continuing capacity building which includes training for healthcare practitioners, conduct of applied research, and other such activities to aid in the effective implementation of a universal newborn hearing screening program;

(d)To establish and maintain a newborn hearing screening database;

(e)To include a component which ensures linkages to diagnosis and the community system of early intervention services;

(f)To develop public policy in early hearing detection, diagnosis and intervention that is based on applied research and the recognition that infants, toddlers and children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing have unique language, learning and communication needs. It should be the result of consultation with pertinent public and private sectors; and

(g)To develop models which ensure effective screening, referral and linkage with appropriate diagnostic, medical, and qualified early intervention services, providers, and programs within the community.