Bengaluru: 5.3%, which is about 33 lakhs, of the state’s population suffers from hearing impairment, reveals the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO).
Among them, 3 lakh are children. Surprisingly, more than 50% of these children were born with hearing impairment. “Nearly half of them have the condition since birth and it is genetic. These are preventable but due to lack of awareness on timely screening, the numbers have not come down,” said Dr Vasanthi Anand, Manasa Cochlear Implant and ENT Centre, Bengaluru which has conducted some 160 cochlear implants in the last two-and-a-half-years. Of them, 45 are implants for children that were done free of cost along with therapy under a central government scheme.
Under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Deafness, which has been adopted by the state government, 30 districts have been covered. In 19 districts, audiologists, audiometric assistants and instructors are already functioning. In these districts about 39,686 people were evaluated for hearing impairment. Of them 6,765 people have been rehabilitated, 1,871 people have been fitted with hearing aids and 498 people have undergone surgeries.
