The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Focus on dealing with hearing disorders

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Focus on dealing with hearing disorders

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: A State-level workshop for doctors and Health Department staff will be held in the city on Tuesday to discuss programmes to increase awareness at the grassroots about hearing disorders, early detection, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation.

The workshop follows a pilot study conducted in Thanjavur, Vellore and Villupuram districts under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Deafness. The study identified about 60 children below the age of 15 as being hearing impaired.

In the pilot project, equipment was provided to detect deafness. Workshops were held for paramedical workers, school teachers, primary health centre doctors, paediatricians in district headquarters and taluk hospitals, obstetricians, gynaecologists and ENT surgeons.

“Fifty per cent of all deafness is treatable. Impairment is different from stony deafness. We have to watch the progress of impairment and manage it medically whereas deafness requires providing hearing aids,” explained C. Jacinth, State nodal officer, NPPCD. “If the impairment goes for deafness then we would consider surgery. Otherwise, PHC and taluk doctors can take care of medical intervention,” he added.

Under the project, all surgeries related to deafness would be demonstrated in the district medical colleges, while temporal bone workshops would be held at the Madras Medical College, the ENT surgeon said.

The government has mooted proposals to run special clinics regularly to identify and treat hearing impairment and start courses in audiology and audiometry. “Most people do not even disclose that they have a problem because of the taboo attached to wearing hearing aids. Better awareness would put an end to the taboo,” said NPPCD’s State Health Consultant Prebhu Clement.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu