500 hearing impaired children to get cochlear implant: Health Minister K Sudhakar
Bengaluru (PTI): As many as 500 children who were born with congenital hearing loss will get cochlear implant, Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar said on Sunday.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had announced the creation of 'Hearing Impairment Free Karnataka' in the 2022-23 state budget.
In the current financial year, 1,939 children below the age of six years have been identified with hearing impairment, Sudhakar said.
"The Karnataka government will gift to 500 children below the age of six who were born with congenital hearing loss by providing them with free Cochlear Implants," the minister said in a statement.
He added that the state health department is working on a mission mode with a slogan 'Health for All' to cover every aspect of health and well-being and a new initiative has been planned to make Karnataka free from hearing impairments.
Special attention has been given to eliminating hearing loss in children under six years of age, Sudhakar further said.
Most of them have suffered from congenital deafness and the main reason for this is the mother's consumption of medicine, viral infection, suffocation and shock during the prenatal period, the minister said.
According to Sudhakar, a cochlear implant is a small electronic device that helps children with severe and profound hearing loss hear sounds. The implant is inserted into the cochlear of the inner ear.
"The processor of the device is placed behind the ear, and the hearing mechanism of the human body that had been dormant starts working again and transmits the audio signals to the brain," the minister explained.
He also said that an honorarium of Rs 250 will be given to each ASHA worker who has helped in identifying such children and have aided in the entire process.
Sudhakar said 20 hospitals including KC General Hospital, Indira Gandhi Children's Institute, Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital, Bangalore Medical College BMCRI, KIMS Hubli have been identified to perform the procedure as they are well equipped for surgery.
Beneficiaries are identified by audiology teams working under National Programme for the Prevention and Control of Deafness (NPPCD) in collaboration with Mobile Health Teams under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK).
The identified eligible children will be sent to taluk and district-level hospitals for further evaluation and management, the minister said.
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5-year-old girl allegedly kidnapped, killed by man in Hubballi, sparks outrage
Hubballi, Apr 13 (PTI): A 5-year-old girl child was allegedly kidnapped and killed by a man here on Sunday, police said.
The incident occurred at the Ashok Nagar police station limits here and the body was found in an abandoned building, they said.
Though there are reports of sexual assault, police have not confirmed it, and have said that medical examination and investigations are underway.
Outraged by the incident, a large number of residents from the locality gathered in front of Ashok Nagar police station and staged a protest, demanding justice.
"The complaint is being taken from the parents of a girl and necessary legal action will follow," Police Commissioner of Hubballi-Dharwad N Shashi Kumar told reporters here.
Victim's family hails from Koppal district. Her mother worked as a house maid and as an assistant at a beauty parlor while her father worked as a painter, he said.
"The mother had taken her daughter for work, as she was working at the houses in the locality. An unidentified man had taken the girl from there. On searching, the girl was found in the bathroom of a small sheet roofed building in front of the House from where she had gone missing. She was immediately shifted to hospital, where she was declared brought dead," he said.
The Commissioner said, the culprit will be nabbed at the earliest and necessary legal action will be taken.
Responding to a question on the accused, he said, CCTV footage is being checked, once the identity of the accused is established, his whereabouts and other details can be ascertained and necessary action will be taken.
Asked was there any rape attempt or sexual assault, he said, "No information for now. Cause of death, was there any kind of assault on the girl child will all be verified," he said.
Police have requested agitators to maintain peace and allow police to do their job and take necessary action.
