Mangaluru, Jul 11: U T Khader, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, said that the state health department intended to make Karnataka into a deafness-free state and Dakshina Kannada had been selected on a pilot basis to provide cochlear implants for hearing impaired children.
Addressing media persons at a press conference here on Saturday, he said that a medical camp had been held to identify children with hearing impairment at Natekal primary health centre about four months ago. Among the total 120 children who had attended the camp, about 35 were found with total hearing loss, out of which 10 children below 5 years of age were successfully implanted with cochlear implants free of cost under Assistance to Disabled Persons (ADIP) scheme, he said.
Dr J M Hans, cochlear implant surgeon and appointed Member to the National Programme on Prevention and Control of Deafness (NPPCD) said that about 50 children had been implanted with cochlear implants in Karnataka under the ADIP scheme, out of which 25 children were above 5 years of age.
It is important that the hearing impairment is identified early among children during their infancy stage so that the cochlear implants can help in early learning through hearing and speech therapy, he said, adding that most parents are unaware of hearing impairment in their children until later stages which could hinder normal learning.
Awareness should be created among parents and families to check for hearing impairments among children right from the beginning, he said.
Dr Vasanthi Anand, Director of Manasa Cochlear Implant and ENT Centre, Bengaluru said that children with hearing impairment can be operated at as early as eight months old. The surgery is done through minimally invasive technique and post-surgery therapy using auditory verbal therapists and audiologists is equally important as the surgery itself, she said.
Mr Khader informed that a system would be implemented in government Mother and Child hospitals in all districts in Karnataka to identify hearing impairment in newborns in the hospital. A audiology policy will be brought in the future to make the testing mandatory in all private hospitals also, he said.
He also said that a total of 150 new ambulances would be released by the health department in August as replacement for existing ones in the state.
District Health Officer Dr Ramesh Rao and District Medical Officer Dr Rajeshwari Devi were present on the occasion.
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