From left: Mohammed El Disouky, Dr Kenneth Baidoo and Dr Felix Anyah at the meeting
The Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) has announced plans to commence a hearing service that will treat people with profound hearing loss to regain their ability to hear and speak.
The introduction of the cochlear implant service, which is basically the use of a cochlear implant technology- an electronic medical device that does the work of the damaged parts of the inner ear (cochlea) to provide sound signals to the brain – forms part of steps being taken by hospital management to position KBTH as a medical tourism centre in Africa.
Announcing this in Accra, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KBTH, Dr Felix Anyah, stated that the new technology has given rise to improved treatment options for patients with different ailments, including hearing loss over the years.
He said the hospital in furtherance of its medical tourism agenda has found it necessary to not only provide the needed infrastructure development but also buy into technologies that have been tested and tried to improve the quality of treatment it offers its clients.
Dr Anyah disclosed that the new service will bring an end to people travelling outside the country to seek such services, as well as attract patients who need cochlear implant services from other African countries.
Dr Kenneth Baidoo, Head of the Ear, Nose and Throat Unit of KBTH, mentioned that the new service is anticipated by the need for cochlear service, especially among children.
He said, “In running screening for children in the hospital, a number of the children who fail the screening and go through further evaluation, about half of them have significant hearing loss which demands that they need a service that would address that issue and in the scope of the available services, the present technological age grants us the opportunity to use what is called the cochlear implantation.”
Dr Baidoo explained that cochlear service requires a lot of health professional groups working together, indicating that what the hospital has done is to build the capacity of auxiliary groups so when the technology is finally put in place it will be a smooth run.
“Apart from the ENT department, we have the audiology unit, speech and language therapy is also functioning. We have put in all the building blocks so that we can build on that to develop the cochlear implantation service,” he said.
Mr Mohammed El Disouky, African Development & Regional Manager, MED EL MEDICAL Electronics, providers of the cochlear technology, commended KBTH for taking the bold step of deciding to introduce the technological service.
“Cochlear implantation is not just a service, the surgery is part but it works when there is good services and infrastructure available … I think Ghana is ready to start a cochlear implant service,” he added.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri