The Dr S R Chandrasekhar Institute of Speech and Hearing, a project supported by the Lions Club of Bangalore East, has launched the mobile speech and hearing outreach bus.
For the mobile outreach bus, Lions Clubs International Foundation contributed $75,000 (Rs 45 lakh) of the total project cost of Rs 65 lakh.
The mobile outreach bus is expected to offer comprehensive audiological evaluation, treatment and consultation services for people with hearing and speech impairment in the rural and urban areas in and around Bengaluru where facilities are not available.
According to M S Venkatesh, Chairman, Dr S R Chandrasekhar Institute of Speech and Hearing, children born with hearing defects, if identified before reaching six months of age and fitted with a hearing aid, can lead a normal life.
"If not they will become permanently speech and hearing impaired. With the technological advances made in medicine it is possible to screen newborn babies and identify hearing defects in them," he added.
Of the 1.2 million children born in Karnataka every year, less than 10 per cent are born in corporate hospitals with facilities for hearing screening and intervention. Over 1,200 children are born with significant hearing impairment in the State annually.
"Therefore this project is being launched with the objective of providing preventive healthcare through hearing screening and early intervention services for the needy children. The services of the mobile Speech and Hearing Clinic can be availed of by older children and adults too," explained Venkatesh.