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INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH CONFERENCE IN TIRANA, ALBANIAThe results of a three-year project on neonatalhearing screening in AlbaniaDaniela Nika 1 , Elisabetta Genovese 21Institute of Public Health, Tirana, Albania;2University of Modena e Reggio Emilia, Italy.Aim: Deafness is the most common anomalyamong newborns. Hearing impairment in childrenconstitutes a serious obstacle to their optimaldevelopment and education including languageacquisition. Early detection and intervention canprevent its consequences. Neonatal HearingScreening (NHS) in Albania started in 2009 in fourmaternity centers (two in Tirana, one in Shkodra,and one in Fier).Methods: NHS is carried out in two phases: Phase1 - TEOAE testing of all newborns within the firstmonth. Stage 2 - ABR testing of FAIL and REFERcases, and children with risk factors.Results: Total number of newborns tested duringthe three-year program was 44341. The prevalenceof ipoacustic babies was 2,5 newborns per 1,000live births, which is two times higher than indeveloped countries. Main risk factors amongdiagnosed infants included preterm births, cranialfacialanomalies, syndromes, asphyxia at birth, orfamilyhistoryof deafness.Conclusion: Based on the number of births and theobserved prevalence, each year we would expectapproximately 80-90 newborns with significant hearingimpairment in Albania. Universal NHS is widelyrecommended by WHO as a new strategy forprevention and, in most developed countries, thisapproach is mandatory. There is a need for in-depthanalysis of the causes and extension of this strategyacross Albania as a public health tool that enables theearly diagnosis and minimizes the magnitude of thisnegative condition in the Albanian population.Keywords: deafness, neonatal hearingscreening, prevalence.ALBANIAN MEDICAL JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT119