Doctors and public health campaigners have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention in bringing down the price of the Cochlear implant, which now costs more than Rs 5 lakh on an average.
The exorbitant price of these implants has kept them away from scores of deaf children. An estimated one lakh children are born each year with hearing impairment.
The price of Cochlear implants has not dropped for the past 17 years. A Karnataka-based ENT surgeon wrote to the prime minister last month seeking his intervention. “My petition was forwarded to an official in the health ministry,” N B Prahlada, the Chitradurga-based doctor, told DH.
There are four companies that manufacture these devices. The productsare imported to India, where it is sold to select hospitals and surgeons.
“The landing price of each implant is around Rs 2.85-3 lakh, but are sold at a price of Rs 5.5 lakh or upwards,”he said.
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