Project partner
Funding period
since 2021
Support
Technology, Funding, Expertise
About Society to Aid the Hearing Impaired (SAHI)
In 2004, the Society to Aid the Hearing Impaired (SAHI) was established as an NGO by a group of doctors, audiologists, rehabilitation specialists, and social workers helping Indian children with hearing loss. HTWF has been supporting SAHI in realizing the project “A Deaf Free Andhra Pradesh” since 2021. In the region, all children with hearing loss are to be treated. The foundation is helping the SAHI project team set up a newborn screening program, a diagnosis and rehabilitation center (Center of Excellence) and donating hearing aids. A particular focus is on girls, who often receive secondary treatment in India. In Hyderabad, ten employees and six volunteers oversee the project.
The project covers the entire care continuum. It focuses on early intervention by performing hearing screenings. The Center of Excellence (CoE) will provide full audiological assessment and fit children with hearing aids. Sustainability is ensured by follow-up care with quality rehabilitation to improve outcomes and document them. The CoE will also focus on providing training, best practices, and resources for the various teams while collecting data and lessons learned from all hearing centers across India.
Project objectives
- Establish India’s first Center of Excellence to create a Deaf Free Andhra Pradesh
- Continue conducting rural camps to raise awareness and carry out hearing screenings
- Increase hearing screenings of children and newborns annually
- Advocacy work to implement a mandated universal newborn hearing screening in the state of Andhra Pradesh
- Sustainably scale the fitting of pediatric hearing aids
- Conduct specialized trainings to enhance the skills of audiologists and therapists