By Nour El-Miligi
A group of female students at Misr International University chose to shed light through their graduation project on a not commonly known issue which is on hearing loss, specifically in infants, by raising awareness amongst mothers to do annual checkups and screening on newborns to detect hearing impairment at early stages. Unfortunately, 16% of newborns in Egypt suffer from hearing impairment and that’s where the idea of the campaign stemmed from.
Hearing loss is a common birth defect that may hinder the baby’s future ability to develop speech, language, and social skills, if not spotted early. Thus, time is a paramount factor as the sooner you detect the problem, the better the outcome for the person with the loss. That’s why the campaign’s main purpose is to educate mothers about the causes, symptoms, effects and actionable steps to be followed instantly after suspecting and discovering the problem. Through the Facebook page of the awareness campaign, touching short episodes for real children facing hearing impairments are posted, in which children themselves briefly cite their stories and how early detection of the illness helped improve their conditions.
Actress Yousra el Lozy showed support to the campaign, especially that she lived through this struggle with her beloved baby daughter who had a hearing impairment and was only discovered a year and a half later of her birth, due to lack of awareness about early hearing screens for newborns back then. That’s why she expressed her support to witness cognitive awareness regarding this matter that can be life-changing for individuals and families when following its lead and medical advice, saying that she has always wanted to participate in any initiative related to the topic.
The campaign offers discounts on all kinds of hearing aids with collaboration with several medical companies.
Moreover, professional doctors are collaborating as well, giving detailed information and tips on how to know if your baby is suffering from the illness, through videos posted on the campaign’s social media accounts. “Many people are approaching us through our Facebook page with real cases, praising our work and the concept of the initiative, stating that they were once apprehensive about their kids being the only ones suffering from this issue but the campaign has brought people facing similar conditions together, spreading hope and sense of relevance,” Nesreen Hossam, a member of the campaign team told Scoop Empire.
The initiative took a lot of attention from a couple of Egyptian TV channels as well, that interviewed the students initiating the campaign because of the recognizable effort and great contribution in raising awareness. As the team stated that hearing is the key that connects the baby with the outside world and helps him develop social skills. That’s why a campaign like that was desperately needed to put a spotlight on the importance of doing early hearing screenings when having suspicions and help save our babies early.