The Hindu Business Line : `High cost of congenital hearing device limits reach'

Unlike the western countries, where national health programmes supported even the sophisticated implant device for correcting hearing loss, Indian beneficiaries' struggle to find such munificence limiting the adoption of by a large number of afflicted children.

Congenital hearing is a common phenomenon among Indian children and incidence varies from one to four per 1,000 live births. Profound deafness affects both ears and also causes speech disability.

Cochlear implants are a set of electrodes implanted surgically into the inner ear, known as cochlea.

The implant device is marketed by leading manufacturers from the US, France and Australia.

More than 1,000 implants have been done in India so far. In Karnataka alone, more than 50 afflicted have received cochlear implant.

At a recent counselling meeting held under the aegis of Cochlear Ltd, Mr Ash Adarkar, Area Manager, Southern Asia, said though India was adopting the technology fast, the prohibitive cost of the device had restricted its reach to larger sections of the affected people. A simple device costs about Rs 8 lakh, Mr Adarkar said, adding unless financial assistance came from insurance companies and banks several congenitally deaf people would lose the opportunity to regain their hearing capability.

Mr Adarkar said Cochlear follows a multi-tiered pricing for Asia where it markets the device at 40 per cent less than in other parts of the world.

He said unlike hearing aids, which merely amplify sound, a cochlear implant bypasses the damaged part of the ear and stimulates the hearing nerve directly.

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