India provides Rs 49 mn assistance for ear care in Nepal

India today gave Rs 49.4 million grant of assistance to carry out ear health programmes in Nepal.
Two Memorandum of Understanding were signed between Embassy of India, Kathmandu and BP Eye Foundation for Ear Surgical and School Ear Health programmes.
The Ear Surgical Programme aims to develop Ear Health Care personnel by providing training and establishing District Ear Care Centres so that no patient with ear problem remains unattended, according to a statement by Embassy of India.
Those needing referral will be sent to Zonal hospitals in Nepal, the statement said.
The project aims at contributing towards improving the hearing and well-being of the affected people of Nepal in a phased manner.

The Foundation expects to serve an estimated 12,500 people in rural districts of Nepal, perform 1,250 ear surgeries and fit 1,250 hearing aids utilizing 100 per cent financial assistance from Indian government.

Kathmandu Valley with three Districts (Lalitpur, Bhaktapur and Kathmandu), one district in Terai (Morang) and one district in Hill (Kavrepalanchowk) will also be covered under the programme.
Under the School Ear Health Programme screening of 37,500 school-going children will be conducted in 75 schools in 3 districts of Kathmandu Valley (Lalitpur, Bhaktapur and Kathmandu) for their hearing disabilities.
Altogether 375 teachers from these schools will be trained in ear health screening and 1,000 hearing aids will be distributed to school-going children.