AOI West Bengal is Taking the Lead in Raising Awareness About Hearing Loss

News Desk, News Nation 360: To mark World Deaf Week (21 st to 27 th September) and the concluding World Deaf Day, the Association of Otolaryngologists of India (AOI), Kolkata and West Bengal chapters, has initiated a massive campaign to create awareness about early hearing detection and intervention, prevention of noise-induced hearing loss, and breaking the social stigma around hearing aids and hearing impairment rehabilitation. Stating that hearing is integral to language development, learning and earning, doctors Dwaipayan Mukherjee, Immediate National Past President, AOI; Utpal Jana, AOI WB Immediate Past President; Shuvendu Kar, President Elect; Ajoy Khawas, Secretary; and Soumendra Nath Bandopadhyay, have advised people to get their newborns and children screened to prevent irreversible developmental and speech disabilities and have cautioned against the use of earphones at high volumes, exposure to loud noises, and bursting fire crackers, while calling attention to the fact that hearing aids and cochlear implants are aids to communication and not a weakness or a part of aging. The doctors have announced that an all-day event on World Deaf Week will commence on Sunday, the 21 st September at the IMA Building, Chandannagar, Hooghly, with a public walk for the deaf, distribution of hearing aids, performances by students, and felicitation of prominent deaf achievers.

Pic: Krishnendu Kundu