TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Health Minister Laxmikant Parsekar declared that a week from now on the treatment at the paediatric neuro rehab centre, that is being operated at the Goa Medical College and Hospital, would be offered free of cost.
Speaking on the occasion of the ‘World Prematurity Day’ at a function organized by the Goa Medical College and Hospital Parsekar also congratulated the department for bringing down the mortality rate of babies born prematurely with the help of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
“I take this opportunity to declare that treatment at the paediatric neonatal neuro rehab centre would be free from next week. Earlier they used to charge Rs 300 per visit,” Parsekar said.
Earlier in the day the head of the Paediatric department, Dr Mimi Silveira demonstrated the working of he GMC’s neonatal ICU over the last three years.
“The survival of babies born at 27 weeks and weighing less than 1000 gms is now at about 50 per cent from around 0 per cent that it was around three years ago,” Dr Silveira announced.
This was made possible on account of the NICU that was started in GMC in the year 2002 and since then has been catering to the needs of kids born at 27 weeks or little above six months as opposed to the full term of 37 to 40 weeks or nine months.
For the year 2012 the NICU, GMC witnessed a total of 1723 admissions of which 1574 survived giving a survival percentage of 91.3 per cent. Of these 1723 admissions 463 were preterm babies or 26.8 per cent and the total preterm deaths is of 16.8 per cent, while the total extreme preterms (<1000gms) were 95 or 20.5 per cent. There were also 249 very low birth weight babies 1000-1500gms or 53.8 per cent.
At the global level India is the biggest contributor of infant mortality and to premature birth each year with almost 36 lakh premature births each year with nearly three lakh deaths each year.
A bigger problem is that those infants who survive prematurity often face a lot of other complications like that of cerebral palsy, hearing disabilities, visual problems, behavioral problems, poor scholastic performance.
The Goa NICU is aiming to improve the outcome of these survivors through the neuro-rehabilitation centre an early intervention programme by the therapists. The GMC NICU has also started detection of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) a dreaded complication of prematurity leading to blindness.
“We at GMC with the help of the ophthalmologists are able to detect ROP,; however, we still do not have facilities for treatment of babies with ROP. Hearing problems leading to speech and language problems with poor scholastic performance common in these babies
We have started OAE screening in a small way and we are yet to give treatment to these babies in the form of hearing aids and cochlear implants which needs to be developed,” Dr Silveira said.
