READERS will want to join us in celebrating the Government's announcement of a pilot screening programme later this year to detect deafness in all babies within hours of birth.

This is an historic milestone and marks a welcome leap forward in our campaign to ensure that parents will be spared the traumas of late diagnosis. Early detection of deafness enables them to come to terms more quickly with the impact of their child's hearing loss, while benefiting from emotional and practical support at the outset. Deaf children themselves will benefit from earlier intervention ensuring that communication skills are maximised during crucial formative years.

The long-awaited new screening programme will be piloted in 20 areas of the country from September. It uses a safe and non-invasive test that is more effective than the traditional health visitor distraction test, currently the first routine hearing screen at about eight months. This is welcome news, as current screening fails to detect nearly half of the 840 children born profoundly deaf every year by the age of 18 months. Nearly a quarter are as old as three and a half before they are diagnosed.

The National Deaf Children's Society will be supporting the Government pilot towards achieving our ultimate goal of achieving full implementation of hearing screening for all babies right across the UK. Readers with concerns about their child's hearing, or who would like more information about diagnosis, should call our confidential Helpline on 020 7250 0123 (Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm). (A free call-back service is offered to all parent callers.) Or visit our website for comprehensive information about childhood deafness at www.ndes.org.uk

Susan Daniels

Chief Executive

The National Deaf Children's Society

15 Dufferin Street

London

EC1Y 8UR