‘21 new patients benefit from cochlear implant surgeries’

AMMAN — A specialised Jordanian medical team has performed several cochlear implant surgeries over the past two days under the "Hearing without Borders" initiative launched by HRH Crown Prince Hussein in late 2014.  

The team performed surgeries on 21 patients with the support of a Russian surgeon specialised in the field, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted Royal Medical Services (RMS) Director General Maj. Gen. Muin Habashneh as saying. 

So far, 405 patients who needed cochlear implants have benefited from surgeries under the initiative, which is intended to help deaf children in the country, Habashneh told Petra.

The operations are conducted at RMS hospitals, King Abdullah I University Hospital and Prince Hamzah Hospital, with financial support through the initiative, he added.

The father of Noor Bani Hani, who has benefited from the initiative, told Petra that the surgery brought joy to his daughter and the entire family, thanking the Crown Prince for his support.

The mother of patient Tareq Masri, from Tafileh Governorate, said the cochlear implant will brighten her son’s future.

Volunteers in the Crown Prince’s “Haqeq” initiative distributed gifts to the patients, noting that their participation comes within the joint framework of the Crown Prince’s various initiatives, according to Petra.

Approximately 172,000 babies are born in Jordan every year. Two children in every 1,000 births have congenital hearing defects, the initiative’s director, Sakher Fayez, previously told The Jordan Times.

Currently, there are approximately 19,000 deaf Jordanians, he said.

Most of those who suffer from hearing difficulties cannot fully communicate and interact with the community although they have learned sign language, he added.

The cost of education and rehabilitation per person is JD6,000 per year, while the cost of one cochlear implant and the subsequent rehabilitation process is JD16,000 and will allow the child to fully communicate with the community, according to Fayez.

The Hearing without Borders initiative supports the rehabilitation of deaf children who receive cochlear implants, providing the needed language therapy and training to the patients after their surgery.

It also aims at creating community awareness of the causes of deafness and plans to establish rehabilitation centres across the Kingdom for children who receive cochlear implants to enhance their speech and pronunciation.