Coimbatore-based Global Hearing Aid Centre has opened its centre in Chennai.
The centre is a dedicated hearing clinic which provides customised services to people with hearing impairment.
The Chennai centre (at Anna Nagar) was inaugurated by former Test cricketer Syed Kirmani and brand ambassador of Widex India, makers of digital hearing aids. Kirmani, who had fractured his left jaw during his playing days, realised his hearing impairment only ten years ago and since then he has been using and endorsing this brand of hearing aids.
The clinic offers a range of Widex products, testing and assessment, patient education, counselling, speech therapy, and new born screening facilities. It houses a sound lab, a hearing aid service lab and an ear mould lab for accurate fitting and testing of aids and moulds for all age groups.
Global Hearing Aid Centre has operations in Coimbatore, Bangalore, Cochin and Tirupur. It plans to expand across Tamil Nadu and the rest of India soon.
According to WHO estimates, hearing impairment is found in over 250 million people across the world. In India, 20 per cent of the population suffers from a hearing problem; 5-10 per cent requires a hearing device.
In India, 10-12 per cent of those above the age of 40 have some form of hearing difficulty. Only one per cent of this group goes for testing; awareness needs to be spread, said Bhupendra Chaudhary, MD and CEO, Widex India. Widex has been in India for around 15 years. It claims a share of 20-25 per cent in the digital market. Its products, imported from Denmark, are priced between Rs 5,000 and Rs 2.5 lakh.