The Early Diagnosis Centre at the Collectorate has come as a boon for poor parents to diagnose hearing impairment among new born and infants.
A sum of ₹20 lakh has been spent for the centre, which is maintained by the District Differently Abled Welfare Office. It has an advanced technology to diagnose hearing impairment among children between three months and six years of age.
Collector T. Anbalagan said that the centre would help poor people screen their children to find out whether they had any problem in hearing.
Identifying hearing loss at an early age was important as children with hearing loss could face problem in speech and language development, cognitive skills and social skills.
Early detection would enable them to get better results.
As many as 30 infants have been diagnosed with hearing loss since the establishment of the centre about five months ago, Mr. Anbalagan added.
P. Janci, District Differently Abled Welfare Officer, said that almost all babies, who visited the office for various purposes, had been subjected for screening at the Early Diagnosis Centre. If needy cases, children are recommended for cochlear implant surgery.