Brazil

Challenge:

In Brazil, access to hearing healthcare is unevenly distributed, with stark disparities between regions. The state of Rio Grande do Norte, located in the northeast, faces particular challenges due to high poverty rates and limited access to specialized medical services. 

While newborn hearing screening is legally mandated through the public health system (SUS), implementation remains inconsistent. In Rio Grande do Norte, a study  found that only 53% of infants referred after initial screening received follow-up diagnostic testing, which is far below national goals. 

Public audiology services are under-resourced, and many families struggle with long wait times, transportation barriers, and a general lack of awareness about hearing loss. As a result, many children are diagnosed too late to benefit from early intervention leading to children missing critical opportunities for speech and language development. 

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How we help:

• Strengthen the results and sustainability of training actions, through practical training, for professionals who attended the course provided by Academia Brasileira de Audiologia.
• Enhance three centers to become a reference in pediatric audiology in the state of Rio Grande do Norte (RN), based on the technical support of LAIS professionals.  
• Build an earmold laboratory to facilitate adaptation of hearing aids with short turnaround time. 
• Build a collaborative network to strengthen audiological care through telemonitoring and teleconsultations for children, their families and school staff.
• Adapt hearing aids and remote microphones to children from low-income families who use hearing rehabilitation services.

How we help:

Laboratory of Technological Innovation in Health’s purpose is to promote technological innovation in health, improve public policies, and offer advice and training to teams of health care services by scientific evidence in Rio Grande, Brazil.