We moved to Bangalore almost 6 years back and my daughters also joined a new school. My younger one was just 5 when we came here. I remember when she came back from school and immediately told me about one of the girls in her class who used to wear something on her ears. I understood that she was talking about the cochlear implants and explained it to her. As she was just 5 at that time, I didn’t go into too many details.
I remembered this incident recently after I got a call to attend an event by Cochlear India which is a Cochlear implant company that designs, manufactures and supplies Cochlear™ implants, the most popular among which are Nucleus™ and Kanso™.
It is a global market leader and the most popular brand for hearing implants. Joining hands with the WHO, ‘Make a sound investment’ is the theme they are following for 2017.
India is the most impacted country when it comes to hearing loss. And people are still not aware of many things.
We were invited on World Hearing Day to attend the event with our kids as there was a screening of ears for checking hearing. The initiative by Cochlear India to spread awareness about hearing loss in kids is applaudable and impressive.
There was a team of doctors who were checking kids and moms at the event. I and my younger one who is 10 years old, went to the event and initially my younger one was hesitant to get her ears checked. But the whole procedure took a very less time. It was a very easy and non-time consuming procedure.
According to WHO (World Health Organisation) and WHA (World Health Assembly), these are some of the facts-
Do you know that 360 million people worldwide have a hearing disability?
Do you know over 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents?
50%of hearing loss is preventable through public health actions like Immunisation, healthy ear habits and effective treatment.
Hearing loss affects all age groups and 60% hear loss in childhood is preventable
Cochlear India is helping in spreading this awareness about hearing health by working with hearing health professionals and NGO’S.
Recently I attended a bloggers meet to spread awareness and there were good arrangements to keep kids busy at the event too.
We also got a chance to meet Brett Lee who is the Global Hearing Ambassador for Cochlear India. It was overwhelming to know his thoughts and how there is still a need for awareness about the whole thing. We saw the latest technology implants which were small and light in weight. It is called Kanso™, the most discreet and smart innovation in the field of implants today.
I have been coming to India a lot and it is an amazing technology which makes it possible for kids to hear and get a gift of sound back in their life. They should be given the gift of sound as we all have and parents have a huge role to play in this by getting them screened as soon as possible. I am lucky that I can use my profile for this cause. People are more aware because of Cochlear and we have to stop looking at it as a stigma by making people aware of it. – Brett Lee.
As a mom, it breaks my heart to see kids with hearing disability and we also got to meet a 10-year-old girl Komal who got Cochlear implants. It was nice to hear her and her mother’s experiences about it.
It will not be difficult to spread awareness if we all work together to spread this knowledge. With few more changes, it is possible in India too.
On the one hand, it was sad to know all the facts about our country and on the other hand, I feel happy to be a part of such great cause.
Today, as a mom, I want to send this message to all parents out there – Get your kids’ ears checked soon after birth and at regular intervals after that. There is nothing as important as your child’s health and wellbeing.
To know more about them-
Twitter Handle: @CochlearIndia
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CochlearIndia
Website: http://www.cochlear.com/wps/wcm/connect/in/home
Product: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqMZF0Ex_dY
#SoundsOfCricket #HappiestSound
March 14, 2017 at 8:46 am
Such an informative post, Deepa.
It is great that we, as bloggers, can help spread awareness about an issue so many are still unaware of.
March 14, 2017 at 9:30 am
Yes as bloggers we can help spread the information. Thanks Mayuri 🙂
March 14, 2017 at 8:48 am
As an ENT surgeon and a mom to a 5 year old I am passionately tring to promote timely hearing tests and the miracle called Cochlear implant.Cochlear India is truly an excellent brand and Kanso appears perfect to give the gift of sound.
Thank you so much Deepa for spreading awareness for this event.
March 14, 2017 at 9:31 am
Thanks a lot Amrita and its great that you are also spreading the awareness. It is very important to make sure that people are aware of Cochlear and its products.
March 14, 2017 at 11:28 am
As parents we always want the best for our kids, we get them vaccinated on time, but hardly get a hearing test done. With so much noise pollution around, it’s high time we as parents realize the importance of the hearing test.
March 14, 2017 at 11:40 am
Yes Tina..I am glad that we are a part of this and helping in spreading awareness.
March 14, 2017 at 3:18 pm
Such an informative post, Deepa. Before attending the event, I was not aware of the magnitude of hearing loss that existed in our society. Hearing is the most neglected and taken for granted among our senses I feel.
March 14, 2017 at 11:28 pm
Same here..It was sad to know about the reality but it was good to know that we are a part of this good initiative. Thaks Preethi for reading 🙂
March 14, 2017 at 3:29 pm
Informative post. Yes India needed awareness about Hearing test and various medical test that are available for ear impairment
March 14, 2017 at 11:29 pm
Thanks Bushra. as a doctor you will surely understand the facts 🙂
March 14, 2017 at 4:36 pm
That’s a good eyeopener Deepa! We never give importance to ear tests as we do our eye tests. Many children become victims due to the lack of knowledge of such ear impairment possibilities. Thanks for creating the much needed awareness!
March 14, 2017 at 11:29 pm
Yes..India needs an awareness about it and we are happy to help in anyway we can. 🙂
March 14, 2017 at 8:10 pm
Those were really interesting facts, I definitely think hearing issues are something that carry a slight stigma, such as only ‘older’ people get issues with their hearing. This post was really eye opening, thanks for writing it!
March 14, 2017 at 11:32 pm
Agree Natasha..Thanks for reading:)
March 14, 2017 at 11:17 pm
Hi Deepa,
I really didn’t know much about this. This post was quite informative!
It reminds me so much of those heart warming videos of babies or young children receiving implants or other hearing devices and being able to hear their mom’s voice for the first time. It’s incredible.
Keep up the amazing work of spreading awareness!
Best,
Nadalie, It’s All You Boo
NEW POST: 26 Inspiring Self-Love Quotes
March 14, 2017 at 11:34 pm
Thanks a lot Nadalie 🙂
March 15, 2017 at 3:18 am
Wow I never knew this was a problem. The research and information you have provided is excellent. I know my daughter had hearing issues when she was a toddler, we lived in Australia at the time and using gromets seem to sort out the problem and she is good now.
March 15, 2017 at 8:20 am
Yes..the main problem is that many people are not aware of it. Thanks Helen 🙂
March 15, 2017 at 4:45 am
This is so important. I can relate because at one point I though my son was losing his hearing….I jumped through hoops getting him from one doctor to the next only to find that his ears were still clogged from a recent flight in a plane that we had taken. This was a relieve, but that feeling of him losing his hearing was horrible. Frequent checkups are essential! Yes, thanks for shedding light one this so important topic.
March 15, 2017 at 8:22 am
I know Kimberly..It is not easy for parents to find out something like this. Awareness is the only thing which can bring a change. Thanks:)
March 15, 2017 at 6:16 am
What a great device for so many, and what a great initiative by the WHO. I had no idea that India is the most impacted country re. hearing loss. Thanks for sharing!
March 15, 2017 at 8:22 am
Thanks for reading Patricia 🙂
March 15, 2017 at 7:37 am
Great information for parents. I’ll pass on to parent friends
March 15, 2017 at 8:23 am
Thanks
March 15, 2017 at 7:38 am
Great educational piece. I agree it is very important to begin testing children at an early age. This is definitely raising awareness.
March 15, 2017 at 8:23 am
Thanks Nichole 🙂
March 15, 2017 at 7:54 am
Wow Deepa. I think you have written a wonderful post, coming straight from the heart of a mother. This was a fabulous initiative and I am very glad to have read your post on it!
March 15, 2017 at 8:24 am
Thanks alot Shalini..glad you liked it 🙂
March 15, 2017 at 9:08 am
Deepa, a lovely initiative!! That’s a noble cause you are associated with…I remember in my school days we had a boy with hearing disabilities. Back then we were not sensitive enough to understand the problem and that guy had to quit school bec of constant bullying. Today, thanks for all the awareness and acceptability kids can have best of treatments or aids early on their life. Great cause.
March 15, 2017 at 9:30 am
I know Dipika..people do not understand and see it as a stigma. It is the sad reality. Thanks for reading 🙂
March 15, 2017 at 9:15 am
It was an informative post. I was not aware that there is widespread hearing disability in our country among children also. I was of the opinion that hearing loss only happens in old age. I got to know about Cochlear from the photos of the bloggers, on Facebook, who had attended the event. And then, day before yesterday, son got his medical report from school which also stated about his hearing. Thank goodness it was normal.,
March 15, 2017 at 10:08 am
Yes Anamika..Even I was not aware until I attended this event. I am glad to be a part of it through this initiative. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
March 15, 2017 at 1:37 pm
Very informative piece and thank you for sharing your point of view! Definitely raising awareness one step at a time. 🙂
March 15, 2017 at 3:12 pm
Thanks Emily 🙂
March 16, 2017 at 6:53 am
Wow! This is interesting, especially for parents. Technology like this are very useful for children nowadays.
March 16, 2017 at 9:11 am
Thank you 🙂
March 17, 2017 at 10:51 am
I never thought it’s important to get our ears checked regularly. Thanks for enlightening
March 17, 2017 at 11:18 am
Thanks Nidhi 🙂