Lack of hearing and speech experts

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia needs at least 1,325 audiologists and 5,300 speech-language pathologists. However, the country has only about 80 and 90 respectively.
Senior consultant paediatrician at Ipoh Hospital Dr Amar-Singh said there was a shortage of these professionals.
“Currently, we do not have enough professionals in the area of hearing and speech therapy. The Government should create more opportunities for them,” he said.
Education Ministry parliamentary secretary P. Komala Devi said young people should consider becoming audiologist and speech-language pathologists.
She said these professionals were highly valued as they could help educate policy-makers and school administrators on the importance of early diagnosis and rehabilitation of individuals with hearing or speech-language difficulty.
She said at the launch of first National Better Hearing and Speech Campaign 2006 sponsored by Siemens here yesterday.
She also declared this month as the “Better Hearing & Speech Month.”
Malaysian Association of Speech-Language and Hearing (MASH) president Siti Aminah Kamaludin said the campaign was to raise awareness on various forms of hearing loss and speech-language impairments.