Brett Lee unveils Sounds of Cricket in India

To raise awareness about the significant functional, social, emotional and economic impact of hearing loss on individuals and their families

Cricket legend and Cochlear’s first Global Hearing Ambassador, Brett Lee unveiled the Indian leg of the global initiative ‘Sounds of Cricket’ to raise awareness about the significant functional, social, emotional and economic impact of hearing loss on individuals and their families.

Speaking at the press conference, Brett Lee, said, “I am delighted to be in India to help spread the message that if you have hearing loss there is technology that can help.”

Dr Milind Kirtane, Senior ENT Surgeon, Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai opined, “Every year, 100,000 babies are born with hearing deficiency, there is clearly a need for a universal newborn hearing screening programme in India. Neonatal and infant hearing screening programmes can eventually improve the linguistic and educational outcomes for the child.”

“The importance of a screening programme is to provide effective treatment at the earliest opportunity, thereby reducing suffering due to the impairment. A cochlear implant is probably one of the best inventions in the recent history of medical science. It is the first device that can restore one of the five senses. I urge every parent to screen their newborn babies for hearing. I appeal to the paediatrician community in India to provide hearing screening with the same level of importance as vaccination,” Dr Kirtane further added.