Hearing centre for babies at Lady Goschen Hospital

Kasturba Medical College, Mangaluru, a constituent of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), in association with Pai Family Endowment (in memory of Suhas Gopal Pai), will inaugurate a New Born Hearing Assessment Centre at Lady Goschen Hospital in the city on Tuesday at 9 am.

Briefing reporters, Dr M Venkatraya Prabhu, Dean of KMC, Mangaluru, said that Anuradha (Shanthi) Gopal Pai, who contributed to the centre, will inaugurate it in the presence of MAHE Vice Chancellor Dr H Vinod Bhat.

Dr Deepak Madi, Deputy Medical Superintendent at KMC Hospital-Attavar, said that the facility would be managed by the Departments of Audiology, ENT, and Paediatrics of KMC, Mangaluru. The centre aims to screen all the babies born in the hospital for hearing loss. This is the maiden initiative of the MAHE-Pai Family Endowment that has been set up to find solutions for the numerous challenges faced by the hearing handicapped in and around Dakshina Kannada district.

Explaining the project, Anuradha Gopal Pai said that the project seeks to increase awareness and facilitate neonatal screening for deafness across the district.

The endowment will also help in meeting the expenditure incurred for the rehabilitation of deafness with hearing aid and cochlear implantation for the beneficiaries hailing from financially weaker sections of the society. The centre at Lady Goschen Hospital will screen about 10,000 babies a year. A sensitisation programme for ASHA workers of the district on newborn hearing assessment will be held at KMC Hospital, Attavar.