Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, recently, virtually inaugurated six new ‘Outreach Service Centres for Communication Disorders’ across the country by All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH), Mysuru on the occasion of World Hearing Day, on March 3, in the presence of Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The new six Outreach Service Centres are:

1. Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Science, Patna, Bihar

2. Bidar Institute of Medical Sciences, Bidar, Karnataka

3. Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences, Belagavi, Karnataka

4. Karnataka Institute of Medical Science, Hubbali, Karnataka

5. AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, Odisha

6. Sri Devaraj Urs Academy of Higher Education and Research, Kolar, Karnataka

Dr Harsh Vardhan also released the report by ICMR-AIIMS and a Pictorial guidebook on ‘Prevent Hearing Loss’ by DGHS-PGIMER.

Expressing his appreciation, Dr Vardhan said, “This will enable early identification and diagnosis of communication disorder and early intervention, thereby preventing further deficits in speech, language and cognition and facilitating the overall development of the child.”

Choubey said, “Communication disorder is a matter of challenge in front of all of us. There is a need to generate awareness among common man and ensure that all people get benefitted by it. Every child should be checked properly, and early treatment should be ensured in case of communication disorder.”