NEWBORN HEARING SCREENING IN BORNEO INTERIOR ZONE: PRIME CASE IN KENINGAU

Abstract

Borneo Sabah being part of the country of Malaysia, is constituted by huge land area. Healthcare development in rural area of interior always lags behind the city area. Wise distribution of healthcare personnel and equipment are possible and should be looked in as an important step to escalate heath care accessibility of the under privileged folks. Neonatal hearing screening is not available in the interior of Sabah. This study describes the first case of newborn hearing screening conducted at Keningau Hospital, an interior zone of Northern Borneo, Malaysia. New service of high-risk neonatal hearing screening was launched and protocol of neonatal Otoacoustic Emission (OAE) screening was established.