Services for hearing-impaired children must be improved, a Chinese hearing expert has said.
China's 137,000 hearing-impaired children, who are up to six years old, are in dire need of state support, said Long Mo, deputy director of China Rehabilitation Research Center for Deaf Children ahead of Ear Care Day, which falls on Thursday.
According to Long, most of China's hearing-impaired children are being failed due to limited rehabilitation services.
China has the largest population with hearing problems in the world. Nearly 30,000 hearing-impaired babies are born each year, the center's figures show.
Yet, there are only 61 hospitals and 262 rehabilitation centers able to perform cochlear implant operations, electronic medical devices that help those with damaged inner ears.
Currently, there are less than 10,000 audiologists in China, far behind the 53,000 the country needs to tackle hearing-impairment problems.
