Why in news? The health department of Karnataka has decided to provide free cochlear implants to children, below six years of age who have hearing impairments  is part of the health department’s ‘Health for All’ mission

Highlights:

• The programme announcement was made for creating ‘Hearing Impairment Free Karnataka’ in the budget of 2022-23.
• The children that have been identified with hearing impairment, have suffered from congenital deafness and the main reason for this is the consumption of medicine, viral infection, suffocation and shock in the mother during the prenatal period.
• Under the scheme, a child will be provided a trial with hearing aids for 3-6 months and if there is no improvement, the child is eligible for cochlear implant surgery.
• Under the programme the ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers who have helped in the identification of such children and have aided in the entire process are given an honorarium of Rs 250 as an incentive.
• Children have been identified by audiology teams working under National Program for Prevention and Control of Deafness (NPPCD) in collaboration with mobile health teams under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK).
• The eligible children will be sent to taluk and district-level hospitals for further evaluation and management.
• Consanguineous marriage is another major cause for congenital hearing impairment.