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Sumeer Singh
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, March 20
Six years ago, the parents of Jasleen Kaur (name changed) from Kotha Guru village in Nathana taken her to the government hospital in Bathinda when even after turning three, she could not utter even a single word. But post her medical examination, it was established that Jasleen was suffering from hearing impairment rather than speech impairment as was anticipated by her parents initially. Chances of her survival were bleak (as told by local doctors) when she started falling sick more often.
But she was identified by one of the screening teams of health workers deputed under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) scheme at the government school where Jasleen had taken admission in April, 2017. After fulfilling all required formalities, she was referred to Government Medical College and Hospital, Faridkot, where she was provided free hearing aid machine in October last year. For the past five months, she had been undergoing speech therapy sessions at the DEIC centre and learnt to pronounce names of her family members now.
But Jasleen is among eight hearing impaired children, who had received free hearing aid machines in the past three years. The market price of a single pair of a hearing aid machine is around Rs 36,000.
The RBSK scheme provides free cochlear implant surgery for children (less than 2 years of age) affected with congenital hearing impairment, the treatment cost for which varies from Rs 4 lakh to 6 lakh in private hospitals.
A senior health department functionary said that considering the benefits available for hearing impaired children, the number of beneficiaries availing free hearing aid machines could have been higher, provided the department had followed exhaustive ways to identify more cases.
He said despite free treatment (Rs 6 lakh in private hospitals) available for CHI children, less than two years of age, the department had been able to transfer benefits to a single child in the state in the past three years.
The information procured from the district hospital revealed that around 8-10 hearing impaired children who visit ENT, OPD on monthly basis, around 4 of them required to undergo cochlear implant surgery.
Dr Sukhdeep Kaur, state programme officer, RBSK, said, “It is lack of awareness or indifferent attitude on the part of parents’ of affected children who do not bother to see a professional doctor at the right time. We have our limitations when it comes to screening cases and as far as cochlear implant is concerned, parents often come for treatment when child has crossed two years of age.”
Benefits for hearing impaired
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