by KT Leong
The Rotary Club of Greentown is spearheading the battle against hearing impairment in future generations via the launch of the Rotary Foundation’s Global Grant for the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Programme earlier this week.
The Rotary Club of Greentown, in partnership with the Rotary Club of Bangalore and Rotary Club of KL Di Raja, were able to get their grant approved by the Rotary Foundation. This allowed them to raise funding amounting to nearly RM200,000.00, to purchase equipment and provide training for Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun (HRPB), with the purpose of screening newborns to determine their hearing health.
The equipment and training will allow HRPB to make early detection of any hearing impairment that newborns may have. This will allow families to make the necessary decisions to ensure that their child will be able to grow and develop smoothly.
For instance, by using hearing aids or cochlear implants, the children will be able to hear more clearly, which means they will develop their language skills at a natural rate.
The equipment and training provided through the Rotary Foundation’s Global Grant will be in use for many years to come, thus, these screenings will be sustainable even after the Rotary Clubs are no longer directly involved with the programme.
Thanks to the efforts of the committee led by Organising Chairman, Rotarian Aniljeet Singh, many children who would otherwise grow up not even realising that they had a hearing impairment, will be able to lead smooth lives.
