Prez Kalam lends an ear to special cause

NEW DELHI: For Tanya(4), Smriti(7), Ayushi(9) and Sajal(15) this Saturday was very special as the once deaf and dumb not only sung the national anthem along with the President of India, but also lived the hope of a technology-enabled society where the silent stigma of deafness would be history.
They also 'heard' the President making a passioned plea to scientists, doctors and corporate houses to contribute their bit to ensure that the benefits of scientific advancements reach the poorest.Highlighting the plight of the deaf and dumb in rural areas "where people suffer silently", the President asked: "Can we remove the pain?"
Statistics reveal that India houses about 10 million people who suffer from hearing disabilities of varying degrees. Out of this, a staggering one million fall under the profound hearing disability category. The President said that in last one decade only a mere 750 cases or 0.075% have been treated under this category.
This impairment is cured by a method called cochlear implant. Addressing doctors and scientists at the third national conference of Cochlear Implant Group of India (CIGI) on Saturday, Kalam said that one of the challenges in removing profound hearing disability is the "production of a cost effective cochlear implant," since the technique is very expensive.
A single implant can cost upto Rs 10 lakh, making the treatment out of bounds for a majority of hearing impaired patients. The President said that there is a need to design, develop and manufacture low-cost cochlear implant in the country "without frills" to bring down the cost.
"I am sure the scientists engineers and medical community will be able to take this challenge and bring out a cochlear implant within the next two years costing less than Rs one lakh," Kalam asserted.
Dr J M Hans, organising secretary, CIGI, said: "Despite advancement in technology, the unprivileged millions can't afford to meet the costly expenditure.
The support of the President gives us renewed confidence to ensure that technology is tuned in a manner that it's affordable and relieving for the rural poor."