Parents of speech and hearing impaired children need not worry about the future of their young ones anymore as the Capital’s Safdarjung Hospital has now started doing cochlear implant surgery absolutely free for underprivileged patients.
While the surgery is also being done at other Government-run hospitals
like AIIMS and RMl its cost is prohibitive.
Dr AK Rai, Medical Superintendent and ENT surgeon, Safdarjung Hospital, told The Pioneer, “The hospital has collaborated with a Delhi-based NGO, which will pay for the cochlear implant as it costs anything between `6 and `10 lakh. The hospital will do the surgery for free.”
Dr Gul Motwani, Head of ENT Department, Safdarjung Hospital, said, “For poor patients the surgery is free. So far, we have conducted five such operations on toddlers.”
This initiative has given a new lease of life to four-year-old girl Bhumika, who was born with a speech and hearing disorder. The toddler who underwent a cochlear implant surgery at Safdarjung Hospital recently has now begun responding to sounds, is beginning to speak and is even going to playschool.
Bhumika’s parents are over the moon as they could not afford the costly treatment for their child and had given up all hope of their daughter ever leading a normal life.
Bhumika’s mother Babita told The Pioneer, “I never thought that my daughter would be able to live life like other kids. Now, she has joined a playschool. And she actively responds to the sounds around her.
“She is even learning to speak. She says words like ‘ka’, ‘ki’, ‘ma’…I can’t express how badly I have been waiting to hear my daughter call me ma.”
Safdarjung Hospital has conducted four other cochlear implant surgeries since January this year. According to doctors, the treatment is focused on one to three-year-old children as this is the crucial stage when the toddlers begin to speak.
Since, there is no awareness among parents they ignore early symptoms of speech and hearing impairment.
By the time they reconcile to the fact that there may be a problem and get in touch with doctors the child is already five to six-years-old.
While the surgery can be done at any age, doctors say it gives best results when conducted at an early age. Dr Tilak Raj Singh, Senior ENT Consultant, who conducted the surgery on the young ones said, “The younger the patient, the better the results. In other countries, before the birth of the baby doctors screen the foetus to know about its ENT status, which is lacking in India.”
From now on, Safdarjung Hospital will screen the baby in the womb to know if there is any complication, said Dr Singh.
Soon after the surgery, these kids undergo speech therapy and rehabilitation to help them respond positively to the sounds around them. “For those who haven’t heard anything since birth, it can be an overwhelming experience and it takes time to respond properly to sound. Within three to four months of the surgery the child starts to say a few words and by the time the child reaches five years of age, he/she starts to speak and hear fully and can live a normal life. Therefore, speech therapy counseling is given to them. Family support is most important,” said Dr Abhay Kumar Singh, ENT Consultant, Safdarjung Hospital.
As per World Health Organisation data about 60 million people in India are suffering from hearing disorder and need cochlear implant surgery.