ABU DHABI, (Pakistan Point News - 12th Apr, 2021) The ENT Team of Al Qassimi Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has performed three free cochlear implant surgeries for two Arab children, aged two and four years, and a 35-year-old Arab man, all of whom were suffering from hearing loss of sensory nerves since birth and otitis.
The operations are part of the "Help Me Hear" initiative launched in 2017, One of MoHAP’s initiatives launched during the Year of Giving, the first of its kind across the country to bring happiness to hearing-impaired children from among non-citizens. Some 50 non-citizen deaf persons so far have benefited from the initiative.
Dr. Hussein Abdel Rahman Al Rand, Assistant Under-Secretary for Health Clinics and Centres, said this is one of the humanitarian initiatives launched in cooperation with the ministry's strategic partners to help low-income residents and hearing-impaired children whose families cannot afford the treatment costs, especially since the cochlear implant surgery costs around AED 150,000.
Dr. Al Rand underlined that the initiative will continue to provide a free cochlear implant for deaf children, as part of the noble values of the UAE to extend a helping hand to those in need, thus cementing the state’s status as a regional and world capital for humanitarian aid.
"I am very pleased with the success of the surgeries that can change the life course of patients. Over time, those who underwent the surgery will be able to hear and communicate with their counterparts, and thus integrate effectively into society as a result of the development of technologies," he added.
Al Rand pointed out that all the surgeries were performed at Al Qasimi Hospital in cooperation with one of the international companies producing cochlear implants, and "Alam and amal" (pain and hope) tv show.
Dr. Eman Alhouli, consultant Otolaryngologist and Head of ENT Department at Al Qassimi Hospital, said, "The electronic device was implanted in the patients' inner ear, which will be followed by another procedure to insert a speech processor and operate the device two to three weeks after the operation. Once the surgeries are complete, patients will be able to hear for the first time."
"The expansions of the ENT department and equipping it with state-of-the-art techniques of the cochlear implant have significantly contributed to the success of this kind of delicate operations and restore hope in people with severe hearing disabilities and deafness. This would help cement the status of Al Qassimi Hospital as one of the leading hospitals in the UAE and the region in the field of cochlear implants," she added.
