INDIA. Mumbai: ‘Chetna’ an Early Intervention Centre (EIC) set up at the Department of Pediatrics, INHS Asvini, located at Colaba in South Mumbai, was inaugurated by the Navy Wives Welfare Association (Western region) President Mrs. Kala Hari Kumar, on Monday.
The centre was inaugurated in the presence of Vice-Admiral R Hari Kumar, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command.
Neurodevelopmental disability is a common problem in child health, occurring in approximately 10% of the child population, and even more among “at-risk” children discharged from Sick Newborn Care Units. Often, defects or delays in development are noted when they manifest as functional disabilities or at the time of school admission.
“Chetna” aims at early (before the age of two years) detection of defects such as developmental malformations, cerebral palsy, Autism Spectrum Disorders, ADHD, learning disability, etc, and minimizing their impact through multi-modality intervention in children under six years of age, before they attend creches or schools.
These interventions aim at making affected children achieve their maximum potential and promoting their early integration into the mainstream. The plasticity of the developing brain at the childhood stage makes it possible to bring about the expected changes. If a child misses an early rectification opportunity, learning at a later stage could be slow or inadequate.
All services required by infants and toddlers at the risk of developmental delays will be provided under one roof at “Chetna”, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, assessment and counselling by psychologists, and clinical consultation by Pediatricians.
INHS Asvini is the Indian Navy’s oldest and first hospital. It is the state-of-the-art super specialty medicare institution, which was adjudged the Best Command Hospital of the Armed Forces in 2017, by the Defence Ministry. As the only Command Hospital of the Indian Navy, the INHS Asvini also trains doctors at the post-graduate level, and nurses and paramedics at various levels.
