ShareKUWAIT: The Ministry of Health, represented by Sheikh Salem Al-Ali for Hearing and Speech Center, held a celebration on Tuesday marking World Hearing Day under the logo “hearing to all,” with the participation of a number of public and private institutions and authorities. Sheikha Awrad Jaber Al-Ahmad (a leading charity activist), in a statement in the aftermath of inaugurating the activity, lauded the MoH’s top services and continuous efforts for overhauling the national health sector, in tandem with neo Kuwait vision 2035 and the UN sustainability goals 2030.
Sheikha Awrad said the center offers services that compete with ones offered at the international level. Moreover, it spares no efforts for providing state-of-art equipment for serving the people of Kuwait and the residents of the country, in addition to its employment of distinguished and highly-trained medical personnel.
Dr. Metleg Al-Sihan, in charge of the MoI’s otolaryngology department, indicated that 50-60 cochlear implants are conducted annually at the center, a reasonable level in light of the size of the population of Kuwait. He affirmed the quest by Zain Hospital and Salem Al-Ali Center to broaden the sector by establishing external clinics and bringing in sophisticated equipment, indicating that a special nutritional clinic had already been opened to treat snoring and overweight cases.
He also indicated the opening of a clinic for chest illnesses at Zain Hospital in cooperation with Al-Sabah Hospital. For her part, Dr. Mariam Al-Kandari, the chairperson of the MoH speech and hearing department, said that World Hearing Day is being observed with the motto, “hearing to all,” advising that guidance should be given, particularly, at a young age on hearing issues. Dr. Al-Kandari indicated that all newly born in Kuwait are examined to detect any hearing impairment, within a month after birth, and that such cases are regularly shifted to the center.
At the global level, the proportion of hearing impairment cases stands at 1-3 percent and ten percent of limited and medium defection case, she said. The proportion of hearing deficiency cases in Kuwait is largely similar to advanced nations due to the available care and treatment services, she said, noting that up to 1,500 patients had undergone cochlear transplants, 70-80 percent of whom were able to restore normal hearing. Moreover, she has cautioned that up to 50 percent of the cases are hereditary or result from marriages to close relatives. — KUNA
