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SBI Foundation Gives Charitable Medical Institute Dr. SRCISH a Rs. 1.41 Cr Facelift with Rare Equipment Like India's first Danish Pupillometer
19-year-old Chandrakala from Tumkur District's Pavagada had struggled with hearing loss since birth. Since her family could not afford a hearing aid, Chandrakala's communication issues snowballed over time, adversely impacting her education as well as her personal life. Through the financial impetus received by SBI Foundation, Dr. S. R. Chandrasekhar Institute of Speech and Hearing (Dr. SRCISH) scaled up their...
19-year-old Chandrakala from Tumkur District's Pavagada had struggled with hearing loss since birth. Since her family could not afford a hearing aid, Chandrakala's communication issues snowballed over time, adversely impacting her education as well as her personal life. Through the financial impetus received by SBI Foundation, Dr. S. R. Chandrasekhar Institute of Speech and Hearing (Dr. SRCISH) scaled up their outreach and were able to visit her village. Chandrakala was evaluated and found to be fit for a hearing aid, using which she was able to hear clearly for the first time in years. However, using hearing aids is only half the battle won. Chandrakala, who still had difficulty communicating, further received tele-therapy sessions with Dr. SRCISH's speech-language pathologist. In just seven sessions, she made significant strides; she could identify phrases without visual cues, communicate better, and returned to college a more secure, confident individual.
As illustrated through Chandrakala's case, managing speech, language and hearing disorders is an elaborate, largely non-medical process, requiring complementary support for complete rehabilitation. Reportedly, nearly 60% of the cases of hearing impairment in children under 15 in India are preventable. Moreover, studies have shown that persons with disabilities are likely to be less educated, earn lower incomes or be unemployed. But the path to accessing treatment is strewn with barriers, like the failure to recognise deafness and the belief that deafness would resolve itself, and the lack of funds and transportation to reach medical centres, particularly in rural areas. Furthermore, while Karnataka has a few government and non-profit organisations in the sector, in Bangalore, there are no affordable government institutions, and most non-profits lack the requisite expertise and infrastructure to provide quality services. Research, however, indicates that early diagnosis is critical; it leads to better prognosis, and diagnostic accuracy is contingent on the use of sophisticated instruments.
Understanding these systemic challenges, SBI Foundation and 45-year-old non-profit institution, Dr. S. R. Chandrasekhar Institute of Speech and Hearing (Dr. SRCISH), have framed an intervention in line with the government's efforts to increase access to Cochlear Implants (CI), new-born hearing screenings, and better quality clinical services for lower income groups. The project has three components - giving the institute a state-of-art-facelift by procuring sophisticated equipment, sensitising grassroots workers like ASHAs, school management etc. to direct potential cases to the centre, and undertaking the capacity building of non-medical professionals. The Rs. 1.41 crore funding has been made jointly by SBI Foundation and SBI-SG Global Securities Services Pvt. Ltd. The project will be implemented by Bangalore Speech and Hearing Trust (BSHT) in coordination with SBI Foundation's Centre of Excellence for PwDs over a 3-year period, from 2022 to 2024.
