Mysuru: Former director of All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH) M Jayaram on Monday stated that nearly 3.5 million babies in India are born prematurely while 1.7 million babies are born with birth defects.
Delivering keynote address on the topic ‘Current status of screening for speech, language and hearing disorders in paediatric population in India and the path ahead’ during a two-day national seminar on ‘Early identification and intervention of communication disorders in children’ organized by All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, he stated that the newborns remain at high risk of death, stunting, developmental delay and communication disorders. “Therefore, newborns have to be screened for a number of developmental disorders. Early identification and intervention means that we are on the path to create a life akin to ours for some or most of these children,” he stated. “We believe that the cost of screening / identifying a baby with disability would be much lesser than the cost of managing the child later in his/her life. Therefore, early identification programs are a necessity and in order,” he explained.
He also pointed out that non-availability of trained personnel in adequate numbers, gargantuan size of the population to be screened, geographical vastness for coverage, lack of instrumentation, poor awareness/education of the people, administrative apathy and lack of policy backup are some of the issues that contribute to the complexity of the issue.
“The approaches that we are following for identification of communication disorders all these days are pedestrian and uneconomical. We need to think of alternative approaches, and in this direction, a search for biochemical indicators may turn out to be a more profitable approach. Finding biomarkers is not an easy thing. It is time consuming, requires major and multi-pronged research,” he observed.
Speaking on the subject role of paediatricians in the early identification of communication disorders, Dr SN Prashanth, professor and head, department of paediatrics, JSS Medical College stated that early identification and treatment is important.
M Sandeep, professor of audiology, AIISH delivered a talk on prevalence of communication disorders and need for early identification and intervention.
P Manjula, in-charge director, AIISH was also present. Over 175 participants from across the country are taking part in the two-day seminar which will conclude on Tuesday.
We also published the following articles recently
Delivering keynote address on the topic ‘Current status of screening for speech, language and hearing disorders in paediatric population in India and the path ahead’ during a two-day national seminar on ‘Early identification and intervention of communication disorders in children’ organized by All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, he stated that the newborns remain at high risk of death, stunting, developmental delay and communication disorders. “Therefore, newborns have to be screened for a number of developmental disorders. Early identification and intervention means that we are on the path to create a life akin to ours for some or most of these children,” he stated. “We believe that the cost of screening / identifying a baby with disability would be much lesser than the cost of managing the child later in his/her life. Therefore, early identification programs are a necessity and in order,” he explained.
He also pointed out that non-availability of trained personnel in adequate numbers, gargantuan size of the population to be screened, geographical vastness for coverage, lack of instrumentation, poor awareness/education of the people, administrative apathy and lack of policy backup are some of the issues that contribute to the complexity of the issue.
“The approaches that we are following for identification of communication disorders all these days are pedestrian and uneconomical. We need to think of alternative approaches, and in this direction, a search for biochemical indicators may turn out to be a more profitable approach. Finding biomarkers is not an easy thing. It is time consuming, requires major and multi-pronged research,” he observed.
Speaking on the subject role of paediatricians in the early identification of communication disorders, Dr SN Prashanth, professor and head, department of paediatrics, JSS Medical College stated that early identification and treatment is important.
M Sandeep, professor of audiology, AIISH delivered a talk on prevalence of communication disorders and need for early identification and intervention.
P Manjula, in-charge director, AIISH was also present. Over 175 participants from across the country are taking part in the two-day seminar which will conclude on Tuesday.
We also published the following articles recently
Teen undergoes surgery at SMS for rare disorder
Doctors at Sawai Man Singh hospital in Jaipur performed a robotic surgery on an 18-year-old patient suffering from achalasia cardia, a rare swallowing disorder. The patient had difficulty swallowing food and was regurgitating it. The surgery was successful in addressing the issue. In another recent case, doctors in Arunachal Pradesh closed a congenital hole in the heart of a 30-year-old patient using local anesthesia. The surgery was the first of its kind in the state and received praise from the chief minister.
Doctors at Sawai Man Singh hospital in Jaipur performed a robotic surgery on an 18-year-old patient suffering from achalasia cardia, a rare swallowing disorder. The patient had difficulty swallowing food and was regurgitating it. The surgery was successful in addressing the issue. In another recent case, doctors in Arunachal Pradesh closed a congenital hole in the heart of a 30-year-old patient using local anesthesia. The surgery was the first of its kind in the state and received praise from the chief minister.
Two-day seminar
The School of Humanities and Social Science of NITK Surathkal will be hosting a two-day international conference on gender studies from September 21. The conference aims to provide a platform for discussing and expressing ideas on gender studies. The conference will feature various speakers and participants from different countries.
The School of Humanities and Social Science of NITK Surathkal will be hosting a two-day international conference on gender studies from September 21. The conference aims to provide a platform for discussing and expressing ideas on gender studies. The conference will feature various speakers and participants from different countries.
Dancing grandmother & droopy neck… KEM docs diagnose rare brain disorders
A grandmother in Mumbai was diagnosed with DRPLA, one of the rarest brain disorders in the world, after years of visiting various doctors. The diagnosis was made at BMC-run KEM Hospital. Another case presented at the hospital was a policeman from Uttar Pradesh who was initially misdiagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease or ALS, but was later diagnosed with anti-IgLON5, a relatively new auto-immune condition. Both conditions have no known cure, but symptomatic treatment was provided.
A grandmother in Mumbai was diagnosed with DRPLA, one of the rarest brain disorders in the world, after years of visiting various doctors. The diagnosis was made at BMC-run KEM Hospital. Another case presented at the hospital was a policeman from Uttar Pradesh who was initially misdiagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease or ALS, but was later diagnosed with anti-IgLON5, a relatively new auto-immune condition. Both conditions have no known cure, but symptomatic treatment was provided.
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