115 cochlear implant surgeries for kids this fiscal

This financial year, 115 children were operated under the state government's cochlear implant scheme, Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said.

Under the scheme, a total of 577 congenitally deaf children under the age of six were to get the surgeries during the year. The remaining beneficiaries are at various stages of preparation for the surgery, the minister said.

Sudhakar said that screening camps for hearing impairment would be conducted in all districts and treatment given on March 3, which is observed as World Hearing Day. And arrangements will be made to provide them with hearing aids through the Department of Empowerment of Differently Abled and other organisations.

In the last five years, over two lakh people with hearing impairment and 35,418 people with severe hearing impairment were identified through the National Programme for the Prevention and Control of Deafness (NPPCD), Sudhakar said. He added that all health workers are being trained in ear care, first aid and screening, and these services would be merged into primary healthcare services.