KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 — The Ministry of Health (MoH) is looking to strengthen audiology services by increasing the number of officers in specialist hospitals, improving staffing, encouraging collaboration between government and private agencies, as well as expanding the availability of the services in government facilities.

The ministry in its statement today said audiologists, otherwise known as Medical Rehabilitation Officers (Audiology) were part of a comprehensive healthcare professional body to identify, assess and manage hearing, balance and related nervous system problems.

As of 2023, nearly 800 certified local audiologists are serving in various public and private employment sectors across the country, of which, 198 are working in 48 government hospitals.

"With a population of 34 million Malaysians, it means there is one audiologist for every 42,500 people (1:42,500), and this number is very low when compared to the projected need for audiologists, which is a ratio of 1:500,” according to the statement.

A report from the Medical Rehabilitation (Audiology) service obtained from 59 MoH hospitals in 2022 showed that a total of 27,067 new patients were diagnosed with hearing problems.

Meanwhile, it said that the Universal Neonatal Hearing Screening programme had identified three babies out of 1,000 births with hearing problems.

The latest coverage rate for infants undergoing hearing screening nationwide had also increased to 78.5 per cent compared to 59.9 per cent in 2022, with the standard set by the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (JCIH) being 95 per cent.

On the National Action Plan for Persons with Disabilities (2016-2022), the statement said the first strategy was to increase access to quality health services for the disabled to enable them to live a better life.

"Thus, the MoH is committed to supporting efforts to empower the disabled. According to the latest statistics, there are 44,208 Hearing Impaired individuals comprising adults and children in Malaysia registered as of September 30, 2023,” it said. — Bernama