TZW
Cochlear implant is an electronic medical device that does the work of the damaged parts of the inner ear (cochlea) to provide sound signals to the brain. Medical experts from stateof- the-art medical facility in collaboration with their counterparts from Australia-based MED-EL, the world’s most innovative cochlear implant firm, yesterday enabled provision of six children with cochlear devices.
Tanzania becomes the second country after Kenya to have the technology in the East African region but in public health facilities ranking, MNH is the first public hospital in the region to have the technology. According to MNH Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Specialist, Dr Edwin Liyombo, the hearing devices were implanted to the six children at the leading national hospital last month.
Many people suffer from hearing loss due to their damaged hair cells in the inner ear. The cochlear implant facilitates transfer of sound to the hearing nerves, enabling the patient to hear.
Dr Liyombo revealed that taking the child abroad for the cochlea implant costs between 85m/- and 100m/- while at MNH the service costs only 33m/-. “This means that by having the technology here (at MNH) parents can serve up to 67m/-,” said the ENT Specialist.
Health, Community Development, Gender, Elders and Children Minister Ummy Mwalimu officially launched the cochlear implant service at the country’s largest medicalfacility on June 7, 2017.
Dr Liyombo it was the fourth time the MNH specialists were carrying out a complex procedure after they first did it in June, 2017. “After switching on the hearing device, these children will attend clinic every week for follow ups on their progress and counselling to their parents and guardians on how to take care of the children at home,” he said.
He assured that the children who have been implanted the devices will be able to hear and they slowly be trained to understand the meaning of words to enable them form sentences. “It will take them a year to hear and speak well as normal persons,’’ he insisted.
Dr Liyombo added that domestic specialists performed 90 per cent of the surgeries, with the visiting Indian experts handling the remaining 10 per cent. One of the parents whose children underwent the surgeries Angela Cosmas thanked the specialists at the national hospital for their efforts to restore the hearing ability of her child. “She could not be able to hear when she was three month old, but I am now the happiest woman that the surgery has been successful and she can hear,” she said.
The Audiologist and Cochlear Implants Specialist from Hear Well Audiology Clinic, Mr Fayaz Jaffer said after three months, changes could be noticed to the children and they will ably hear and recognise sound