THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government will soon launch a project named ‘Dhwani’ to ensure follow-up treatment of those who have undergone cochlear implantation, Social Justice Minister K K Shailaja has said.
The Minister was inaugurating the ‘Kathoram’ project aimed at addressing hearing disabilities in children and also a meeting of children who had undergone cochlear implantation. As a preliminary step, Rs 1.5 crore has been released for the ‘Dhwani’ project, she added.
‘Kathoram’ also follows the life-cycle approach, similar to that of ‘Anuyatra’ project for the differently abled which detects disabilities at an early age and provides comprehensive rehabilitation. Currently, 45 government hospitals have the facility to detect hearing disability. This facility will be extended to 66 hospitals.
At present, there are nine centres for conducting Brain Invoked Response Audiometry (BERA) tests. Steps would be taken to set up at least one BERA test centre in each district by March 2018, the Minister said. District Early Intervention Centers will also be set up in all districts, she added.
Global Hearing Ambassador and Australian former cricketer Brett Leee inaugurated the Universal Hearing Scheme Programme software which has been designed for the ‘Kathoram’ project.
V S Sivakumar MLA, Kerala State Handicapped Persons’ Welfare Corporation chairman Parasuvakkal P Mohan, Social Justice Special Secretary Biju Prabhakar and Kerala Social Security Mission Executive Director Mohammad Ahseel were among those who spoke.