Ann Acad Med Singap
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China has a large population with different levels of medical care among the eastern, central and western areas. The national universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) programme was initiated in 1999 and then progressively implemented nationwide. A "National UNHS Experts Group" was set up, formulating the national UNHS administration rules and technological specifications. 3 March had been named as national "ear-care day" since 2000 and such social activities help make deafness prevention work more widely accepted. ⋯ The incidence of newborn bilateral hearing loss was 2.22 per 1000, and 2.74 per 1000 for unilateral hearing loss. Though UNHS have been carried out widely in the eastern parts of China, there are difficulties for its implementation in the western regions. Economic development and technical expertise are the main restricting factors.
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Ann Acad Med Singap · Nov 2008
Comparative StudyPrevalence of refractive error in malay primary school children in suburban area of Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia.
Refractive error remains one of the primary causes of visual impairment in children worldwide, and the prevalence of refractive error varies widely. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of refractive error and study the possible associated factors inducing refractive error among primary school children of Malay ethnicity in the suburban area of Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia. ⋯ The ethnicity-specific prevalence rate of myopia was the lowest among Malays in Kota Bharu, followed by Kuala Lumpur, and is the highest among Singaporean Malays. Better socio-economic factors could have contributed to higher myopia rates in the cities, since the genetic background of these ethnic Malays are similar.