KARACHI, April 17: Speakers at a seminar underlined the need to promote awareness among mothers about rational use of drugs during pregnancy that, otherwise, becomes main cause of hearing impairment in their children.

The speakers, including ENT specialists from Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and Civil Hospital, were deliberating upon the causes of partial and total deafness at an awareness programme.

They emphasized that a neonatal should be got thoroughly checked by doctors at the earliest instead of waiting for the time when the child poses some abnormal attitude like hearing impairment. Early intervention increases the chance of rehabilitation or at least the repair of deafness, they said.

The specialists also called for creating awareness about noise pollution hazards among all sections of society, as this issue was not being taken seriously.

Giving some statistics, they revealed that world-over the deafness rate was only two per cent and that too among elder persons while in Pakistan it was over 11 per cent and most of the victims here were children and youths.

Prof (Dr) Tariq Rafi, head of ENT department of JPMC, underlined the need for early intervention by doctors so that a child victim of hearing impairment could be rehabilitated or repaired to maximum extent.

He said speech of someone depends on power of hearing. "Parents become active only when they see their child is too late to speak without caring for his abnormal or poor response from the day first," he remarked.

Prof Rafi listed the causes of deafness which were genetic due to careless use of drugs by mothers, infections and consanguinity. He noted that even public sector hospitals lacked genetic counselling doctors who were very much required to save families from various health complications.

He called for mobile ENT clinics along with the required machinery to screen children and the government should launch a crash screening programme like national immunization programme.

Prof (Dr) Alam from the civil hospital held inter-family marriages as the main reason for a deaf child. He said that surgical and medical care was highly needed in such cases.

Dr Saleem Marfani spoke on pregnancy disorders and suggested their remedial measures. Referring to some study, he said that 40 per cent child deafness cases occurred only due to rubella attack on the mother during pregnancy and because of sub-clinical treatment. -APP