New Zealand's newborn hearing programme to fund cochlear implant:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
New Zealand will launch a universal, newborn hearing screening programme in July (see Clinica No 1199, p 13). The three-year initiative, which will include improved access to cochlear implants, will initially be rolled out over three district health boards - the central north region; the Hawkes Bay region; and the Tairawhiti and Waikato region. Other regions will be included during 2008/09 and 2009/10. NZ$8.4m (US$6.3m) over four years was dedicated in this year's budget to the provision of cochlear implant services for children with hearing loss.