HEALTH

Hearing loss: Health ministry gears up to save ears
In India 63 million people suffer considerable hearing loss
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

HOW TO PREVENT DEAFNESS Keep dirty water out of ears; use ear plugs during swimming Consult specialists in case of sore ears Avoid loud noise at every cost Don't put anything in the ears Vaccinate children for all childhood diseases Drugs that can damage hearing should only be given on  prescription by a doctor

Chandigarh, Oct 19
Last week, a Pathankot resident boarded a brand new Punjab roadways bus to Chandigarh. Upon arrival, he felt a strange, irritable sensation in his ears.

The sensation was strong enough to lead him to ENT specialists the very next morning. But by then, the damage had been done.

“We examined the patient for hearing abilities. He had suffered irreparable hearing loss due to continuous exposure to the noise of pressure horn in the bus. Strange it may sound, but Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) is a major cause of worry for us. We are encountering many more cases than before,” said Dr Rajesh Dhir, member of the team of ENT experts, implementing in the region the Government of India’s National Programme on Prevention and Control of Deafness (NPPCD).

The programme, recently launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, seeks to train primary health care doctors and personnel at different levels of healthcare delivery in 25 districts of India. The idea is to help health workers read early warning signs of deafness.

As per the WHO estimates, 63 million people are suffering from Significant Auditory Impairment in India. This prevalence is at 6.3 % of the Indian population; over 50 per cent of the causes of hearing impairment are preventable and a large percentage of causes are treatable by surgical methods while other patients can be rehabilitated with the use of hearing aids and speech therapy. Hence the programme is being undertaken as a pilot project in 10 states, including Chandigarh, the only union territory, in the loop.

As the programme entered the second phase today, more than 40 doctors and ANMs turned up at Community Health Centre, Sector 22, to learn about the preventable causes of hearing losses.

A shocking piece of information, Dr S.D. Singh, nodal officer for NPPCD in Chandigarh, shared was: “The use of buds for ear cleaning is dangerous and unhealthy. Nothing should ever be put into the ears. By using buds, you are pushing the existing wax depositions deeper into the ears. These depositions can significantly harm hearing ability,” he said, adding that 50 per cent cases of hearing impairment were made up by this single cause.

Noise pollution is another major cause, with experts saying that continuous exposure to a sound of 90 decibel, normally produced by pressure horns, music systems inside discotheques and loud speakers, can damage hearing ability.

“Anyone exposed to high levels of noise will either suffer permanent hearing loss or suffer early hearing impairment. Normally, hearing loss occurs at 60 to 70 years of age. But in case of people exposed to noise, it can occur at 50 years or earlier,” said Dr Singh, adding that high vacuum bombs should be avoided in the festive season.

Experts also told primary health workers to look for children who have suffered measles, mumps and meningitis. These are important causes of acquired deafness among children. All children who have suffered these diseases need to be screened for deafness.

Ear infections, the doctors added, could cause problems in the ear canal, the middle ear or the inner ear. “This is one of the commonest causes of hearing loss among children in India. Any child up to 7 years, who has suffered viral cold, must consult the ENT specialist,” said Dr Singh, who headed the six-hour long training session, facilitated in this region by Vocational Rehabilitation Training Centre for the Blind, Ludhiana, Punjab and Department of Health, Chandigarh.

SPORTS

Admn’s lack of vision aches archery
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 19
For the very first time, a team on sub-junior level (u-14) is being prepared to represent Chandigarh in the forthcoming National Games scheduled to be held at Jabalpur from October 26 to 28.

Since, it is their first participation, the children are understandably excited. Neeraj, Priya and Neha, all from Government School-10, took to this sport because of passion for bows and arrows.

“Since ours is a new team and it’s going to participate for the first time, our expectations are not very high,” said Gurpal, the archery coach.

He said the reason was the low skill level of the local team.

We run two sessions: the morning session i.e. from 8 am to 10 am at St Saupin’s School and the evening (4 pm to 6 pm) at Lake Sports Complex.

Gurpal agrees that it is a rich man’s game. “Because of lack of funds and infrastructure in our city, we are participating in the Indian round only, because money involved in it is quite less comparative to the FITA (International Archery Federation) round.”

It is the lack of proper marketing and exposure to this sport which has put it on a back seat otherwise Chandigarh’s connection with archery is not new. “Only recently, Chandigarh’s senior team won the first ever gold medal in Guwahati National Games where this team outclassed the Olympic games’ probables like military team. But none of the official from the Chandigarh administration had ever came to congratulate them, What to talk of honouring them,” rued Maha Singh, the organiser of archery competitions. 

Football
DAV-8 make it to league
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 19
DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, qualified for the four-team league of the Chandigarh Senior Women’s Football Championship for the Deepak Kampania Memorial Trophy, defeating Government Senior Secondary School, Khuda Lahora, 6-0 today. The tournament is being conducted by the Chandigarh Football Association at the St Stephen's School ground in Sector 45, here.

DAV girls opened their account in the third minute when Kanchan sent a good cross from the right flank and Rekha tapped it.

Maintaining their pressure, the team struck two goals through Neha in the sixth and eighth minutes to establish a commanding 3-0 lead. In the 12th minute, Monica of DAV converted the penalty. Then Kanchan and Gurpreet (23rd, penalty) added more goals to increase the victory margin.

On resumption, Khuda Lahora gave an improved performance but failed to match the skills of the winning team.

DAV-8 joined St Stephen's School-45, MCM DAV College-36 and Carmel Convent-9 in the four-team round robin league.

Before the match, one-minute silence was also observed in memory of Deepak Kampania. 

Chandigarh lads enter semis
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 19
Chandigarh boys toppled the Rajasthan team with a margin of 20 points, ensuring their place in the semifinals of the 19th Senior National Circle Kabaddi Championship held at the Sector 17 grounds, here. Dimpal was declared the best raider while Satta Kajheri was adjudged the best catcher in the encounter.

In yet another encounter, Chandigarh boys got the better of the Himachal Pradesh team by 16 points. Sandeep and Ramesh clinched the best raider and catcher awards, respectively.

Other results

Women’s section: Punjab beat Delhi (16 points); best catcher: Pamma.

Men’s section: Punjab b Jammu and Kashmir (19 points); best raider: Panda; best catcher: Gagna; Goa b Chhattisgarh (10 points); best raider: Ravinder Malik; best catcher; Pradeep Mitta; Haryana b Delhi (23 points); best raider: Rampal; best catcher: Surinder Singh. 

YPS cricketers clinch Boost Cup
Tribune News Service

Mohali, October 19
Harprateek, Shivam and Gurjinder of YPS, Mohali, demolished the hopes of APJ School, beating them by 43 runs in the final match of the Boost Cup Tournament at the YPS grounds, here, today.

APJ won the toss and put YPS to bat. YPS mustered 142 runs in 41 overs. Shivam scored 42 runs.

On the other hand, Harpreet Singh claimed three wickets for 
13 runs while Monu and Mohit Bedi claimed two wickets each, conceding 29 and 30 runs, respectively.

While replying, APJ were all out just for 99 runs in 24.3 overs. Harparteek, Shivam and Gurjinder claimed two wickets each for 8, 10 and 15 runs, respectively.

Brief scores

YPS, Mohali: 142 all out in 41 overs (Shivam 42, Tajwinder 19, Bikram 19 Harpreet Singh 3 for 13, Monu 2 for 29, Mohit Bedi 2 for 30).

APJ School: 99 all out in 24.3 overs (Harpreet Singh 16, Tarun 16, Pammy 15, Harprateek 2 for 8, Shivam 2 for 10, Gurjinder 2 for 15).

Kerala, AP book semifinal berth

Chandigarh, October 19
Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh stormed into the semifinals in the senior women’s category of the ninth Senior Women and fifth Sub-Junior Girls National Cycle Polo Championships being conducted by the Chandigarh Cycle Polo Association at Banyan Tree School, Sector 48-A, here, today.

Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra fought a tough battle before the former emerged winners in the quarterfinal. Srisha was the star performer for Andhra Pradesh as she netted five goals, including a hat-trick.

In contrast Kerala and Chhattisgarh registered big wins against their respective opponents. Kerala routed Vidarbha 19-0. Chhattisgarh outplayed hosts Chandigarh by 17-0.

Meanwhile, in the sub-junior section, Vidarbha, Rajasthan, Kerala and Chhattisgarh booked berths in the semifinals by topping their respective pools. The semifinal line-up is: Kerala vs Chhattisgarh and Vidarbha vs Rajasthan.

Results

Senior women (quarterfinals): Kerala (Kavya Lakshmi 5, Sonia Joseph 4, Ashna Aziz 3, Divya Babu 3, Jiva Jose 3, Gopika 1) b Vidarbha 19-0;

Chhattisgarh (Sudipti 4, Sonali 3, Poonam 3, Monika 3, Smriti 1) b Chandigarh 17-0; Andhra Pradesh (Srisha 5, including a hat-trick, Uma Devi 2, Lavania 1) b Maharashtra (Pratiksha 4, including a hat-trick, Ruchika 1) 8-5.

Sub-junior girls: Vidarbha (Mamta 5, Monika 1, Khushboo 1) b Chandigarh 7-0. Chhattisgarh (Kajal Kiran 6, Preeti 3, Khyati 3 Oshin 1) b Maharashtra 13-0; Jammu and Kashmir (Nazma 1, Uzma 1) b Jharkhand 2-0; Kerala (Preeti 4, Radhika 4, Aparna 2, hena 1) b Karnataka 11-0; Andhra Pradesh (Priyanka 6) b Maharashtra (Prajakta 1). Punjab (Manpreet 2) b Orissa (Somya 1) 2-1; Uttar Pradesh (Neelima Yadav 2, Mathili Divedi 1) b Chandigarh 3-0; Rajasthan (Neha Singh 3, Neelima 1) b Jammu and Kashmir (Nazma 1) 3-1; Punjab (Manpreet 2, Kamaljit 1) b Karnataka (Sunita 2) 3-2. — TNS