With about one lakh children born in India annually suffering from severe to profound hearing loss, former Australia cricketer Brett lee on Wednesday urged the Indian Government to make hearing screening for newborn babies mandatory as "everybody deserves to hear the sounds of life".

The fast bowler, who is now Cochlear's Global Hearing Ambassador, was in the city's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital to raise awareness about Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS). Unlike hearing aids, which make sounds louder, cochlear implants bypass the damaged hair cells of the inner ear (cochlea) to provide sound signals to the brain.

lee is actively involved in raising awareness about hearing screening for newborn babies, more so after his son suffered a temporary hearing loss some time ago.

 "No one in this world deserves to live in silence. People should know that hearing loss is treatable and that it should not prevent a person from leading an active, full life. Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS) can help address these issues early in life."

Deafness, according to the WHO refers to the complete loss of hearing ability in one or both ears, while "hearing impairment" refers to both complete and partial loss of hearing ability. Nearly 360 million people, nearly one-tenth of them children, suffer from hearing loss worldwide."About one lakh children born in India every year suffer from severe to profound hearing loss. Overall the figure may be 10 lakhs," Shalabh Sharma, ENT surgeon at the SGRH said.