Mangaluru: Kasturba Medical College (KMC) Mangaluru, a constituent unit of the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), in association with ‘Pai Family Endowment (in memory of Suhas Gopal Pai), will be inaugurating a newborn hearing assessment centre at Government Lady Goshen Hospital on Tuesday, January 7.
KMC Dean Dr M Venkatraya Prabhu told reporters here on Monday, January 6, that the project has been made possible by the generous philanthropic contribution of Anuradha Gopal Pai and it will be inaugurated by her in the presence of MAHE Vice-Chancellor Dr H Vinod Bhat. After the inaugural at Lady Goschen Hospital, there will be a stage programme at Dr TMA Pai International Convention Centre to thank and felicitate the donors of this project. A sensitisation programme for the ASHA workers of the district on newborn hearing assessment will also be held at the Sushrutha Hall in KMC Hospital in Attavar, he informed.
Deputy Superintendent of KMC Hospital Attavar, Dr Deepak Madi explained that the facility will be managed by the departments of Audiology, ENT and Paediatrics of KMC, Mangaluru. “The centre aims to screen all babies born in the hospital for hearing loss. This is a maiden initiative of the MAHE-Pai Family Endowment which has been set up to find solutions to the numerous challenges faced by the hearing-challenged in and around the Dakshina Kannada district,” he said.
Anuradha Gopal Pai informed that, as a primary venture, 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 aids or cochlear implantation for the financially weaker sections of the society.
Dr Suja Sreedharan, Professor and Unit Chief of ENT Dept. KMC mentioned the need for screening for hearing loss in newborns and explained the process. “As over 750 babies are born in the Lady Goschen hospital every month, the new centre will screen about 10,000 babies a year,” she said.
