Adopted at first reading by the National Assembly on Wednesday, December 1, a bill from the UMP, aimed at the early detection of deafness, has been debated in the political and social world.
Approved by the UMP and the New Center, the proposal did not convince the left, which abstained from voting.
To sum up, this law provides for diagnosing disorders of thehearing in newborns during their stay in the maternity ward, after parental consent. Then, if necessary, more in-depth examinations will be carried out in the following two to three months.
We now know how important it is to detect these disorders very early in order to better manage them. Currently, congenital hearing loss affects about one in 1000 infants and is not detected until around 16 months of age on average.
On the side of doctors, we say we are rather in favor of this bill, which exists in many European countries. Practitioners particularly emphasize the benefits of early detection.
However, the National Federation of the Deaf of France (FNSF) which brings together many associations, does not seem to welcome this proposal. Many demonstrators indeed demonstrated Tuesday in Paris and in the provinces denouncing a “wild mass screening” arguing that deaf people “are not sick to be treated”.
Anyway, the Senate has yet to rule on this text and will put an end to – or not – this debate.
