"Even though more than 20,000 cochlear implantations have thus been done across India, we still face an uphill task with potentially one million children awaiting implantation, for many of whom cost of implant is a deterrent," Natarajan said.
She said this fact has come to light from the Central government's deafness survey titled "The National Program for the Prevention and Control of Deafness". The minister was speaking after inaugurating the 9th Asia Pacific Symposium on Cochlear Implants and Related Sciences (APSCI 2013) here.
She observed that a holistic effort by government, in collaboration with medical fraternity and society, can make a "remarkable transition in the lives of the deaf children in bringing them out of the gloomy world of silence, onto the vibrant world of sound."
"Such an effort can be fulfilled only when technology is propagated to all rural areas across the country and the success of such an effort would lead to realising a deafness free India in the near future," Natarajan said.
The APSCI 2013 is being attended by over 1,000 delegates from around 60 countries across the globe.