[Epidemiology and newborns universal hearing screening].

Epidemiology and newborns universal hearing screening, The value and benefits of newborns' systematic hearing screening is no longer debated; one in a thousand children is born deaf. France, being behind in this field, made this screening mandatory in April 2012, giving to the Regional Health Agencies the duty and care to organise this screening within a period of two years. Therefore, theoretically, in all French maternities, hearing signs are sought in all newborns using the detection of otoacoustic emissions or the recording of auditory evoked potentials. Suspected children are then sent promptly to the referring center of the maternity, which will be responsible for confirming the possible deafness and, subsequently, qualifying and quantifying it. The article takes stock of the organisation of this screening process and its results in France in 2018. It is, especially, a reminder of the key role of the general practitioner who is taking care of infants and who is also able to verify if this screening has been performed.