Gaza, January 30 (QNA) - HH Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Rehabilitation and Prosthetics Hospital in Gaza, funded by the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) resumed cochlear implants for the 9th group with a donation from the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs in the State of Qatar.
In a press release published in Gaza on Sunday the hospital stated that a group of children who are deaf will undergo cochlear implants for a week for the first time.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of HH Sheikh Hamad Hospital, Sultan Al Asiri said that the resumption of cochlear implants in the hospital is a qualitative leap that has a great impact and is necessary not only for the hospital but for the presence of such a specialty in the Gaza Strip, which suffers from difficult conditions of siege and difficulty in accessing basics and the populations access to basic health services.
The implants help people with severe hearing loss as a result of damage to the inner ear, and who cannot hear using hearing aids. Thus, this technology serves a large group of those who desperately need it in the Gaza Strip to continue the journey of giving and building their future and their communities, he continued.
Al Asiri stressed that focusing on such projects is an important boost of hope. Their impact is not only on the patient but also on the patients family, who participate in the journey of the struggle of these patients. QFFD is proud of all the efforts of the Qatari and Palestinian sides in this important achievement.
For his part, the Director-General of the Hospital, Nour El-Din Salah said that five years after the launch of the Qatari program for cochlear implants, the Palestinian medical and rehabilitation teams were finally able to conduct operations in the Gaza Strip without direct Qatari supervision and only remote follow-up. He pointed out that reaching this stage required great efforts to train the crews by the Qatari medical delegation during its previous visits.
Salah praised the support of the Ministry of Endowments in the State of Qatar and its contribution to the success of cochlear implantation operations and the rescue of a new batch of children from Gaza from hearing disabilities.
He added that this joint and continuous effort between the Palestinian Ministry of Health and the Palestine Red Crescent Society will alleviate the psychological and social burdens on the parents of children with hearing disabilities, and provide travel costs and financial coverage for treatment abroad, therefore, reducing hearing impairment in the Gaza Strip.
He stressed that the cochlear implant program is a lofty message that requires the partnership of all parties and institutions to provide the best services to Gaza children who suffer from hearing disabilities, ensuring appropriate medical intervention at the appropriate age.
In the same context, the head of the Qatari medical delegation, deputy of the hospitals board of directors, elected member Dr. Khalid Abdul Hadi said, that they are proud of the goal they have reached, which is to achieve sustainable development in this field after the local cadre of surgeons and audiologists and speech specialists became able to carry out operations, follow-up and rehabilitate by themselves.
Dr. Khalid added that although the challenge was great due to the harsh conditions experienced by the health sector in Gaza, the will of the local staff to train and learn was stronger, and it achieved great success in cochlear implantation, stressing that developing the capabilities of Gaza doctors will remain a primary goal for the Qatari medical delegation towards upgrading it to its best performance.
He continued that one of the main objectives of the Hospital is to develop all the services provided and the medical staff in terms of education and training to reach a high-quality service according to international standards. The next phase will witness matching the standards of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) in all specialties, he stressed.
Since 2017, the Qatari medical delegation has performed about 231 cochlear implants as part of nine successive cohorts carried out under the supervision of Hamad Hospital and funded by the QFFD. (QNA)