More than ten years after its launch, the Quebec Newborn Deafness Screening Program (PQDSN) has finally been implemented in three-quarters of hospitals and birthing centers in Quebec. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS), 95% of newborn babies now have access to this test, compared to 61% a year ago.
For the Order of Speech Therapists and Audiologists of Quebec (OOAQ), this is a victory following a long fight. “This is excellent news,” said the president of the OOAQ, Paul-André Gallant. We have been fighting for more than 12 years so that all newborns, regardless of the region, can have access to it. »
And for good reason. Parents discovered their child was deaf when he was over four years old. Undetected deafness leads to language delays, among other things.
The Quebec Association for Children with Hearing Problems (AQEPA) is delighted with the implementation of the program throughout Quebec. He said he “congratulates” the health establishments which implemented it “by juggling the schedules of staff who had to be freed for training time”. A practical nurse can perform this test. “We must now complete this deployment so as not to leave any region orphaned,” said the interim director general of AQEPA, François Benoit. We must also ensure that this screening is actually carried out. »
According to the MSSS, 64 hospitals and birthing centers now offer deafness screening to newborns out of the 86 facilities where deliveries take place in Quebec. The ministry indicates that the PQDSN could be launched in the “coming weeks” in the Notre-Dame hospitals in Montreal, Anna-Laberge in Châteauguay, and those of La Tuque, Shawinigan, Sainte-Anne-des-Monts and Gaspé. , the Magdalen Islands Archipelago, Amos, Val-d’Or, the North Shore as well as the Inuulitsivik Health Center on the Hudson Bay coast and at the Tulattavik Health Center in Ungava.
A long program to implement
Quebec took time to implement the PQDSN, which was launched in 2012. The elected representatives of the National Assembly unanimously adopted, on May 11, 2021, a motion asking the government to implement the PQDSN “in all places of birth” of the province “by the end of 2021”.
A little more than a year later, the program had only been rolled out to 17 hospitals and 3 birthing centers out of the 86 facilities where women give birth. The MSSS then explained that the COVID-19 pandemic had slowed down the deployment. It has set itself the objective of making the PQDSN “universal by the end of 2023”.
Quebec has not yet reached its 100% objective, but is getting closer. “I can’t say where the problem lies, but at least we are now comparable to all the other Canadian provinces,” says Paul-André Gallant.
In British Columbia, more than 97% of newborns are screened for deafness, according to the provincial government. In Ontario, approximately 2.5 million infants have received this test since the launch of a universal program in 2001.