Cochlear implant only solution for hearing loss, says expert

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 21

More than 100 people attended an educational event on hearing loss and cochlear implants.

Meenakshi Speech and Hearing Clinic headed by Meenakshi Wadhera conducted the camp.

She said according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), hearing loss was the most widespread sensory deficit globally in humans today. The consequences for a child born with hearing loss are manifold. It is proven that a child with hearing loss cannot develop speech and language abilities. This hampers the child’s learning at school, college and limits future professional opportunities. “A cochlear implant is the only solution that can benefit children with severe or profound hearing loss. Unlike hearing aids, which simply amplify sound, a cochlear implant system bypasses the parts of your ear that no longer work properly and delivers sound in the form of electrical signals to the hearing nerve,” Meenakshi said.

“Cochlear implants are not new to India anymore. They have helped countless children overcome their hearing loss and become achievers in different walks of life. So far, more than 1,500 surgeries of cochlear implant have taken place in the clinic,” she said.

The event saw experts from different medical disciplines such as surgery, audiology and habilitation talk about cochlear implants, bilateral cochlear implantation, and importance of early intervention and speech habilitation. The families also got an opportunity to interact with these experts and resolve their questions.

Factfile

• Around 360 million people - 5 per cent of the world's population suffers disabling hearing loss - moderate, severe or profound  
• Almost nine per cent or 32 million of these are children under the age of 15 years
• Up to five of every 1,000 infants are born with or develop disabling hearing loss in early childhood 
• The World Health Organisation  estimates that about 60 per cent of hearing loss in children under 15 years of age is preventable