An exhibition is being held at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital to mark national speech and hearing awareness week.
The exhibition will be on display at the outpatient’s waiting hall in the hospital from 9 a.m. to noon throughout this week. The event is being conducted to create awareness about the development of speech, language and hearing and its disorders, prevention and treatment.
According to a press release, seven months ago, a screening programme was initiated at I.O.G. Hospital, Egmore, where newborns were assessed for hearing disabilities. A total of 2,220 children were screened – 1,124 males and 1,096 females. Nearly 3 per cent of the babies were found to have hearing defects and the reasons for this range from low birth weight to respiratory distress during or after delivery, infections, consanguineous marriages and premature deliveries.
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The press release also said that Tamil Nadu is the first state to start a Bachelor of Audiology and Speech and Language Pathology (BASLP) course. In India, only about 60 institutions currently offer the course, but all are either run by the Central government or are private institutions.
The course in Tamil Nadu, started in 2010 at Madras Medical College, has an annual intake of 20 students. This year, the Rehabilitation Council of India has permitted the enhancement of the annual intake of students from 20 to 25, the release said. There are also plans to start a postgraduate course in audiology and speech and language pathology next year, the release said.