New audiology lab for children coming up in Goregaon

Parents have a reason to smile. The New Horizons Child Development Centre (NHCDC), Goregaon is to set up an audiology centre. It will not only screen children above 2 years but also newborns.

According to Dr Waheeda Pagarkar, consultant for audio vestibular medicine, the level of deafness is higher in India as compare to the UK. Pagarkar will join NHCDC as HoD, audiology centre.

Pagarkar said parents are not aware that their newborns should be tested for hearing along with other routine check-ups. They realise later that something is wrong when their child is unable to speak or hear.

Talking to dna, Pagarkar said, "Abroad, a child is screened at birth for hearing and if diagnosed with a problem, a hearing aid is provided as early as two months. There is a huge difference in speech of a child, who is provided with hearing aid at birth as compared to a child, who is given it at a much older age. It is important to conduct a hearing assessment in children with high risk of neonatal jaundice, with a family history of hearing loss, with down syndrome and speech and language delay."

Samir Dalwai, developmental pediatrician, founder and director of NHCDC, said, "The centre will be inaugurated on August 3. And babies will be monitored there by experts regularly."