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District 5320 News

Progress of Project Deaf India

2007-2008

Dr. Raj Desai, a member of the Newport Balboa Rotary Club, District 5320 and Chairman of Project Deaf India was invited to give two keynote addresses by the District Governors of District 3050 and 3060 in India. The annual district conferences were held in the state of Gujarat and at the cities of Ahmedabad and Bhuj on December 28 and 30,2007.

Attendance at the District Conferences numbered 2000 to 3000 Rotarians at each. The venue of the conference is held in a large football sized open area decorated by a beautiful tent and large stage. In addition to the usual Rotary speeches, 4-5 GUEST speakers from the local area are invited guest speakers and a representative of the Rotary International Presidents Representative from India. Dr. Desai was the only speaker from a foreign country with the opportunity to create an awareness of his goals of Project Deaf India.

Dr. Desai had good news to share on the progress of the Pune Rubella vaccination program for teenage girls. A total of 200,000 girls are in the process of being vaccinated and should be completed by the end of March 2008. A second project of Early Detection of Newborn Deafness and Intervention will begin in April 2008 in Goa.

Thank you YouTube.com for putting up our video! Here is the Silent Village Documentary 5:15 Minutes

Prevention Of Deafness

2008

"" Souvenir article at the Key note address given to Ahmedabad District Rotary 3050 annual conference""

Dr Desai wrote at the request of the District Governors of India Rotary District 3050 & 3060

Deafness is one of the commonest congenital disabilities in the world. It is estimated to be 30 times more common than other congenital defects, such as sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, hypothyroidism, etc.

As reported by WHO, there are about 250-300 million deaf people in this world, 2/3 of them live in the underdeveloped nations, of these India has the largest share.

From a recent report in the India’s leading daily newspaper, The Times of India, Jan 23, 2007;

” That one out of twelve (1/12) persons in India has hearing loss. The problem is receiving political attention. The health ministry has launched its project to focus on The Prevention and Early diagnosis of deafness and not the least, treatment of ear infections and other diseases causing hearing loss ………”
This campaign was introduced at the end of Jan 2007 in 25 districts and 12 states of India.

If the above is implemented by the Health Dept., i.e. MMR vaccination and early detection of Newborn Hearing loss and intervention (EHDI), India will have a great reduction in Deafness, Blindness and other congenital defects within 10 years.

EHDI will also result in the marked improvement of the EDUCATION of the child with hearing loss, along with the treatment of the Deaf, providing them with hearing aids and other treatments as indicated.

As the subject of Deafness and prevention is so large, including the care of the ear and ear infections, Project Deaf India plans to focus on:

1) MMR vaccination to reduce Deafness and Rubella vaccination to prevent CRS syndrome (congenital Rubella syndrome) in their offspring.

2) EHDI= early detection of newborn Hearing loss and Intervention. During the past few years, accurate computerized equipment for newborn screening is available.

MMR Vaccination for India:

The introduction of MMR vaccination in developing nations results in definite benefits---A great reduction in deafness, blindness and other congenital defects. MMR vaccination is given in two doses, the first at 12 months and the second dose at 4-5yrs of age, before entering school.

Early Newborn Screening of Hearing Loss and Intervention (EHDI):

Historically, EHDI was implemented in the USA, by Dr. Marion Downs, as early as 1964. Dr. Karl White and others made it a universal project since 1994 and pushed for mandatory legislation throughout the USA.

Why is the Early detection of Hearing Loss so Important?
Initially, babies who are born with hearing loss do not look or behave any differently from babies who are hearing. However, undetected and untreated hearing loss has serious consequences on the acquisition of language skills as well as cognition and emotional and social development. Deafness separates people from people. The first 6 months of a baby’s life are very crucial for the development of speech and language. Evidence shows that to be most beneficial, screenings should be done before discharge from hospital with diagnostic evaluation completed by 3 months of age. Intervention should be started by 6 months of age.
According to Kalyani, a Pune audiologist, these screenings can be synchronized with the national vaccination plan of India. Infants identified with hearing loss can be fitted with amplification devices (hearing aids) as early as one month of age. These children can then attend mainstream schools.

There is tremendous financial liability to society if the hearing impairments are untreated and undetected.

How can Newborn hearing be checked?
As a result of advances in technology, a newborns hearing can be checked shortly after birth. There are two main techniques for screening hearing in newborns: AABR (automated auditory brainstem response) or OAE (evoked oto-acoustic emission). Both these methods are safe, simple and painless. It takes only a few minutes to complete a screening.

In India, EHDI is being implemented in Mumbai, Chennai, Mysore, Trivandrum and now Goa. It should be started in all cities and villages in India. It is the villages, where most of the population of India resides, EHDI is best coordinated under the national immunization plans for India. In developed countries, every hospital has a screening machine for newborn hearing loss detection before the mother and baby are discharged from hospital. The screening machine is a small handheld, battery-operated machine kept in the nursery.

For India, where the mother and child are kept in hospital for 5-7 days after delivery, we have introduced a screening method suited to the country. Namely, and audiologist or Anganwadi health worker trained in the screening of newborns transports the screening unit from hospital to hospital for screening (the unit is the size of a laptop computer). This way he can screen about 100 babies a day. Those who fail the test are then referred to an ENT doctor for further confirmation of hearing loss and treatment; surgery, hearing aids, or cochlear implants.

India has a great shortage of audiologists and more so of pediatric audiologists, however an Anganwadi health worker can help fill this gap.

Suggestions for Improvement of Deafness in Gujarat:

The state of Gujarat has about 60 million people, with most of this population residing in villages, with agriculture as their livelihood. They have fewer facilities of the modern lifestyle, medical/hospitals, schools, pure water & better hygiene and sanitation. It is estimated that deafness is diagnosed at 4-6 years of age, resulting in the loss of the ability to learn language or communication skills. The child is called DEAF AND DUMB. No special deaf educational facilities are available in the villages. The deaf child lives an isolated life, does menial jobs or is given to an orphanage. In the cities the deaf often beg on the streets.

If Gujarat’s female population is vaccinated with Rubella or MMR (measles, mumps and Rubella) vaccine then deafness and blindness can be drastically reduced, (50% reduction!).

In India, both vaccines are locally produced in Pune, and are available for Rs 30 for Rubella and Rs 50 for MMR per vaccine. Although, it is most desirable that the National or State Governments take the responsibility for vaccination, an alternative is that we, as Rotarians undertake the task and achieve success, as we have done for Polio.

It is my desire that all Rotary Clubs of Districts 3050 & 3060 combine their efforts and apply for a 3H Grant from Rotary International. I will also seek the cooperation of several clubs in my District in the USA (District 5320).

The realization of the above projects (vaccination and EHDI) in Gujarat will be an example for the rest of India for the reduction and intervention of deafness.

“EVERY CHILD
MUST BE ENSURED THE BEST START IN LIFE—THEIR FUTURE, AND INDEED THE FUTURE OF THEIR COMMUNITES, NATIONS AND THE WHOLE WORLD
DEPENDS ON IT” UNICEF

ROTARIAN RAJ DESAI OF NEWPORT BALBOA MEETS PRESIDENT OF INDIA DR. A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM

July 17, 2007, India:
Hope for hearing impaired people in India
Source: The Times of India Online, 23.01.2007

Far too many Indians suffer from hearing problems without receiving proper treatment. The Union Health Ministry of India has launched a national project focusing on hearing loss. The aim is to promote prevention and treatment.

At least one Indian in 12 suffers from hearing loss. The problem is receiving considerable political attention. The Health Ministry launched its project to focus on prevention, early diagnosis and, not least, treatment of ear infections and other diseases causing hearing loss.

The campaign was introduced at the end of January, 2007, in 25 districts in 12 Indian states.

As part of the project, the aim is to have one ear-, nose- and throat specialist, one audiologist and two additional medical doctors associated with each public and private hospital in the 25 districts. Each hospital will open an ear-, nose- and throat department.

Timely detection important

According to experts, 50 percent of the cases of hearing loss can be prevented through early intervention. One aim of the project is to provide early detection of hearing loss and reduce the current 6.3 percent prevalence in the Indian population of progressive or acute hearing loss.

The most common types of hearing loss in India include perforated eardrum and age related hearing loss (presbyacusis).

A VISION FOR INDIA - Article in Hearing Health(CLICK HERE)

Matching Grant of $53,000 - (2007-2008)

Project Deaf India, Chairman, Rotarian Raj Desai is awarded a new matching Grant of $53,000 by the Rotary International, to conduct a new project in the state of Goa, India. The grant is the results of a cooperative efforts between all fourteen Rotary clubs of Goa, by the Past District Governor Mr Salgaocar, District 3170 and the Rotary Club of Newport Balboa, Newport Beach ,District 5320, spearheaded by Project Deaf India Chairperson, Rotarian Raj Desai

The funds are earmarked to conduct EARLY DETECTION OF NEWBORN DEAFNESS AND INTERVENTION . It is well recognized that modern computerized screening instruments to detect hearing loss at birth are accurate enough to detect all degrees of deafness. When a child is diagnosed deaf at birth or in first month after birth, intervention is given such as surgery, hearing aids etc. This allows the child to permit early language recognition and speech. The child can then even be put in the mainstream educational classes.It is advisable to provide the child with hearing loss,speech, lip reading and sign language as a total communication program .

Because of home deliveries, private nursing homes, and Public Hospitals as birthing places, and the custom of keeping the mother and child for 5-7 days post delivery, an Audiologist is provided with a Scooter (motor bike) where he carries a small laptop size, screening instrument on the bike and visits different hospitals and even HOME DELIVERIES. If the child fails the screening test, he is referred to a main center/medical school for detail testing and intervention,.Such a scheme is economical for India so that every birthing place do not need to invest in the purchase of a screening machine.

When completed GOA will be the first state of India where all newborns will be tested for deafness. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT AS INDIA HAS HIGHEST INCIDENCE OF DEAFNESS.

The success of achieving the Matching Grant is due to cooperation of Director of Intnl services, of NP Balboa rotary club, Dan Hoffman, and partnership and financial contribution of District 5320 rotary clubs such as Avalon, Fullerton, Mission Viejo, and Norwalk.

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT TO PREVENT DEAFNESS IN INDIA

A joint project of "Project Deaf India' by the Rotary club of Newport Balboa ,Dist 5320 and Rotary club of Pune,India ,Dist 3130, with the support of a $50,000 grant from the Rotary Foundation has resulted in giving Rubella vaccinations to 50,000 preadolescent girls.The project was conducted by the doctors of Pune city& school authorities & local Rotarians.

It is well known that a Rubella vaccination given to teenage girls will prevent DEAFNESS,BLINDNESS,NEWBORN HEART DISEASE AND MENTAL RETARDATION IN THEIR FUTURE OFFSPRING.

This was the first pilot project of Rubella VACCINATION in the city of PUNE and perhaps in India. There are still 150,000 more girls to be vaccinated, in Pune. Dr Desai wishes to apply for a 3H grant to complete vaccination of all the remaining girls in PUNE city. He also hopes that this will create awareness by the GOVERNMENT OF INDIA to vaccinate the teen girl population in the whole of India. It is well recognized that Prevention by vaccination is the most economical way to prevent diseases where a vaccine is available.

India has one of the highest incidences of Deafness in the world ( 4.0 million or more).

Dr Desai wishes to thank other Rotary Clubs in District 5320 who also gave funds to support the Project.

Write up of the Rubella vaccination program in India by Joint MG (Click)

Color photo of school girls sitting to be vaccinated (Click)

One where a woman doctor is actually giving vaccination.(Click)

Large letter artcle "PUNE news line" titled: Free Rubella vaccination which mentions both Cubs and district.(Click)

REMARKABLE PROGRESS BY PROJECT DEAF INDIA IN YEAR 2006(Click)

PROJECT DEAF INDIA EXPANDS FOCUS(Click)

BRIEF SUMMARY OF DR DESAI'S VISIT TO INDIA 2005 AND ATTENDANCE TO CENTENNIAL CHICAGO ROTARY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION(Click)

Project Deaf India Letter(Click)

Hearing Health Article Page On(Click)

Hearing Health Article Page Two(Click)

Lake Como meeting in Italy(Click)

News Article in India-West Newspaper about Project Deaf India(Click)

Download a Video!!(8mb)(Click)

Trip to India(Click)

Rotary Donates Books for Deaf(Click)

Rotary Gives Gift to Deaf Children(Click)

Souvenir article at the Key note address given to Ahmedabad District Rotary 3050 annual conference""

Hindu Daily News(Click)

Dr. Raj Desai has been granted Humanitarian Award of the Carl Miller Discovery Grant of the Rotary International Foundation. Dr. Desai took a trip to India to make a documentary on the prevention of deafness in India under the title, Silent Village.

Raj left Los Angeles soon after spending Xmas holidays with his family and arrived in Mumbai on December 30, 2002. In the next four days he gave four lectures to the Rotary Clubs in Mumbai on the subject Project Deaf India. He then arrived in Bangalore and met with his friend, Ron Carman, of Los Angeles, who helped him make the documentary. The best camera crew was selected and all went to Hubli by train. The seven hours ride on the train was successfully utilized in planning the documentary. More...

Pictures from Dr. Desai Recent Trip to India(Click)

A doctor brings music to the ears of 'Deaf Villagers'(Click)

Project Deaf India is an international project supported by Newport Balboa Rotary Club, California, USA, Rotary Mysore, India, and Gallaudet University in Washington D.C., USA. The program, based in Mysore, India, is for deaf children, their parents and teachers. The project is headed by Dr. Rajendra Desai of Rotary Club Newport Balboa, California, USA. One of the primary goals of the Project is to establish a Vocational Computer School for the Deaf with the eventual goal of a full-fledged University