Report of the Department of Health / New Zealand.

  • New Zealand. Department of Health.
Date:
[1984]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Report of the Department of Health / New Zealand. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    5/96 (page 5)
    CHAPTER 1 HEARING Deafness prevention has been a priority within the Bureau of Public Health and Environmental Protection since 1978, reflecting the department’s concern about the prevalence of hearing impairment among people of all ages in New Zealand. This chapter provides a record of the measures taken during this time to reduce hearing loss, ensure its early detection, and improve its management. The department would also like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the substantial contribution made by the large number of other government and voluntary organisations and individuals who have been working over many years to improve the hearing of New Zealanders. In particular, it wishes to record its appreciation of the work of Dr P. W. Eisdell Moore in the reduction of chronic suppurative otitis media among Maori children over recent years by both his work on the East Coast and his initiatives leading to the introduction of mobile ear clinics. Committee on Hearing An important step towards improving the co ordination of existing fragmented services and ensuring that these services meet present needs was taken in 1981, with the constitution of the Committee on Hearing of the Board of Health to provide advice to the Minister. The department has also encouraged the formation of local hearing committees, and to date such committees are active in Dunedin, Christchurch, and Wellington health districts. The Committee on Hearing has collected and collated available statistics on hearing loss in New Zealand, but the nature and extent of the problem still remain rather ill defined. A scheme which requires the voluntary notification of children found to be deaf and their relevant background data was introduced in 1983. This, together with improved screening programmes, should result in more and better information becoming available. The committee has suggested that further consideration should be given to 4 specific issues: prelingual deafness; otitis media in childhood; acquired hearing impairment in adults; and noise-induced hearing loss. Prelingual Deafness Prelingual deafness occurs when a child is bom deaf or becomes deaf before speech develops. The incidence of prelingual deafness reduced from 1.7 per thousand births in 1959 to 1.1 per thousand in 1976. In about half the cases the cause is not known; the rest are caused by hereditary factors, perinatal asphyxia, jaundice, ototoxic drugs, or rubella and other infections.