6th SAARC Otolaryngology -Head & Neck Surgery Conference held
Photo: Star health
With a view to exchange knowledge and skills among physicians in the SAARC region and boost up the treatment of diseases related to ear, nose and throat, the 6th SAARC Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery Conference kicked off at a local hotel in the city on Friday last. Renowned physicians working in different institutions at home and abroad congregated in the conference to share information and experiences. Honourable Adviser of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Dr A M M Shawkat Ali inaugurated the 3-day conference. He expressed hope in improving public awareness programmes concerning fatal but preventable ENT problems in the country. He also urged all physicians to extend their full capacity of services and come up with improved diagnostic and treatment care to fulfill government commitment of making best health services to the doorsteps of common people. Speakers in the conference shaded the light of knowledge mainly on cochlear implant surgery and expressed their noble desire to make the surgery available in the country. As an effort to make it accessible locally, the ENT Department of Sir Salimullah Medical College (SSMC) and Mitford Hospital, Dhaka has arranged the surgery in the department and will perform cochlear implant surgery for the 2nd time in that hospital. Renowned cochlear implant surgeon from England Dr Javed Iqbal Khan along with local doctors will conduct the surgery tomorrow and the day after tomorrow on four patients. The department has also organised a 3-day workshop on Temporal Bone Dissection, which will help local ENT surgeons to perform ear surgery better. Professor Dr Hance from New Delhi, personal physician of President of India will guide the doctors in the workshop. Professor Dr Md Abdullah, the pioneer of cochlear implant surgery in the country, who is also the principal of SSMC and Head of the ENT Department of Mitford Hospital pointed out that a significant number of people are going abroad for cochlear implant surgery, because a large number of people do not know that it is recently available in our country. A cochlear implant (also called Bionic Ear) is an electronic hearing device, designed to produce useful hearing sensations to a person with severe to profound deafness. It is surgically implanted in the inner ear and activated by a device worn outside the ear. Unlike a hearing aid, it does not make sound louder or clearer. Instead, the device bypasses non functioning parts of the hearing system and directly stimulates the nerve of hearing, allowing deaf individuals to receive sound. Cochlear implant surgery has brought a revolution in the treatment of deafness and it is performed in many countries of the world. Three years ago, the surgery started at a very small scale in our country. People are becoming interested to this surgery day by day. Cochlear implant brings the profoundly deaf patients to a new world overcoming the disability and this new technology can make their life like other normal individuals. Dr Abdullah urged all physicians, medical students and other health professionals to disseminate the information.
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