Skip to main content

Suspension of funds: Deaf children, parents to protest outside PM House

Islamabad : Parents of around 400 poor minor children highly vulnerable to lifelong hearing loss have announced that they will protest outside Parliament House and Prime Minister’s House next week along with their children against the suspension of government funding to the country’s only public sector cochlear implant centre functioning in the federal capital.They told ‘The News’ on Sunday that the last grant for cochlear implant cases was released by June 30, 2018, and the centre got no funds thereafter despite repeated requests by them and medical board to the Prime Minister’s Office, which insisted that the government could no more fund the treatment of such children under the age of five years due to the financial crunch.“No case has been approved by the government in the current fiscal,” claimed Attaullah Khan, father of a hearing impaired children.According to him, the centre put up at the ENT Department of the Capital Hospital in G-6/2 in March 2016 with the collaboration of the National Special Education Centre for Hearing Impaired Children has so far performed 150 surgeries to implant hearing devices in minor children whom conventional deaf-aids didn’t benefit.Of those profoundly deaf children, 141 poor ones from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, southern Punjab, interior Sindh, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, got the high-priced cochlear implants at the government’s expense under the Prime Minister’s Fatal Disease Programme, while the rest paid for the procedure and hearing devices out of their own pocket.However, the government funding for the treatment of poor children at the centre came to a halt after the PML-N completed its term in power in May last year.“We, the parents of around 400 minors awaiting cochlear implants, and a medical board overseeing such cases contacted the Prime Minister’s Office and the parliamentary affairs ministry’s Grievances Wing many times for funds, but to no avail, as the latter insisted that the government is too strapped for cash to offer any help,” Attaullah Khan claimed.Ijazul Haq, father of another profoundly deaf child, feared that his child and other such children all aged below five years would be unable to hear all through their life if they didn’t get cochlear implants without delay.He said a special medical board headed by the Capital Hospital executive director and consisting of an ENT surgeon, an audiologist, a biomedical expert and a speech therapist, recommended the cases of poor patients to the Prime Minister’s Office for the funds’ approval.“Once the funds are released, the Capital Hospital performs the surgery to implant hearing aid, while the services of an audiologist and speech therapist for patients are provided by the Special Education Centre,” he said.The father warned that most of the children awaiting the release of government funding to get cochlear implants were around five and therefore, they’re at risk of getting lifelong hearing loss.The parents warned that the government’s failure to attend to their children’s misery had forced them to protest outside Parliament House and Prime Minister’s House next week.They said they would stay put until the government announced the resumption of funding for the cochlear implant centre.

from The News International - Islamabad https://ift.tt/2JRsxrP

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Casualties feared in Dir clashes between FC, intruding militants: reports

LOWER DIR: Casualties are feared on both sides as militants from Afghanistan reportedly attacked Frontier Corps (FC) personnel at multiple locations at the Pak-Afghan border in Maidan area of Lower Dir district on Saturday, as per unconfirmed reports. According to local residents and official sources, there were reports of militants’ infiltration from the Afghan side via the Shahi border area at Lamotai Top, Suripao and Safarai forest. However, the reports were yet to be confirmed by Inter Services Public Relations, the military’s media wing. On getting information about the alleged infiltration, troops of the paramilitary force, FC, led by Captain Yasin, Captain Asfandiar and Subedar Hamza, advanced to block the militants’ movement, as per reports. The militants allegedly attacked the troops, who also retaliated, thus prompting fears of casualties on both sides. The security forces surrounded alleged militants at three different locations. Later, gunship helicopters lau...
Post a Comment
Read more

PM Shehbaz pays tribute to martyred lieutenant, says military ‘cleaning’ Fitna-ul-Khawarij from Pakistan

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday paid tribute to an officer who embraced martyrdom during an exchange of fire in Tirah Valley’s Bagh area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Khyber district, the Prime Minister’s office said in a notification on Sunday. According to a press release issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) today, an exchange of fire took place between security forces and terrorists on August 9 during which Lieutenant Uzair Mehmood Malik was injured. He succumbed to his injuries and embraced martyrdom at Combined Military Hospital (CMH) today, it said. “At one of the locations in Bagh, Lieutenant Uzair Mehmood Malik, leading his troops from the front, fought bravely and sent four Khawarij to hell,” the statement said. “However, during an intense fire exchange, the officer got critically injured and was under treatment at CMH Peshawar. Today he succumbed to injuries and embraced Shahadat.” The statement added that the security forces of Pakistan ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Family points finger at PPP MNA, two sons in journalist Nasrullah Gadani’s murder in Ghotki

SUKKUR: Slain journalist Nasrullah Gadani’s mother and two relatives have reiterated the allegation in statements recorded under Section 164 CrPC in a Mirpur Mathelo court that Pakistan Peoples Party’s MNA and his two sons had Nasrullah killed through their men. Ms Pathani Gadani, who was complainant in the case, and witnesses, Yaqoub Gadani and Salahuddin Gadani along with their counsel advocate Salahuddin Panhwar appeared before the second civil and first magistrate the other day and told him that PPP MNA Khalid Khan Loond, his sons, Shehbaz Loond, who was chairman of Mirpur Mathelo municipal committee, and Noor Mohammad Loond, had Nasrullah slain but the trio was so powerful that police had not dared include their names in the FIR. They appealed to the court to bring Nasrullah’s real killers to justice as per law and serve speedy justice to the bereaved family. Gadanis’ counsel Salahuddin Panhwar told media persons that the complainant and the witnesses had clearly stated t...
Post a Comment
Read more