Children at the State-run Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health (IGICH), who were so far referred to other centres for evaluation of hearing impairment, can now get it done at the institute itself.
IGICH, with help from the Spastic Society of Karnataka and a Rs. 25-lakh donation by Cognizant Technology Foundation, has set up a full-fledged audiology unit. The unit, with sophisticated equipment such as tympanometer, otoacoustic emission analyser, auditory brainstem response machine, audiometer, and a sound-proof room, will start functioning from Tuesday.
IGICH Director R. Premalatha said no other government hospital had this facility.
ADVERTISEMENT
Although IGICH, along with Spastic Society of Karnataka, jointly took care of nearly 4,000 differently-abled children, the institute did not have an audiology unit till now. “All these children require hearing evaluation. If the abnormality is detected early, it can be corrected by speech therapy or hearing aids or cochlear implants,” she said.
The unit was inaugurated by Minister of State for Medical Education Sharanprakash Patil and Health Minister U.T. Khader on Monday.
The Ministers also laid foundation stone for a Bone Marrow Transplantation unit and an additional Paediatric ICU block.
ADVERTISEMENT