People living with hearing impairments in Cameroon’s North West Region will soon be provided medical care and hearing aids.
This was the focus of a one day dialogue meeting that held recently at the Cameroon Baptist Convention, CBC hospital in Bamenda.
The one day ear and hearing care policy dialogue took place under the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services program “Socio-Economic Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, SEEPD, which seeks to expand quality ear and hearing care in the North West region”
According to Achataseh Goodwill, Coordinator of Ear and Hearing Care Project with the CBC health centre, the pilot phase of the project which will soon start in the North West region is to put in place Community Health workers to identify people with ear and hearing problems and send them to the hospitals for treatment.
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“We have provided training to about 45 ear and hearing technicians and about 80 community health workers in the region to identify and refer them to the hospitals for care,” Achataseh Goodwill said
The project coordinator added that another aim of the project is to identify those who need hearing aids and provide to them in a subsidised amount.
“A hearing aid that may cost about a million, we are ready to provide it for fifty thousand Francs. We have statistics of over two hundred people who need hearing aids,” Achataseh Goodwill added
It was revealed during a round table discussion headed by Dr Foyeth Eugene that so many people in the region with hearing loss is because of the armed conflict and lack of information.
According to the panel, a lot of people use ear cottons and instruments that may damage the ear because of lack of information.
While those who are in need of hearing aids can not afford because it is too expensive.
On his part, the Regional Delegate of Secondary Education, Ngwang Roland stated that the situation of nightclubs and mechanic workshops around schools due to poor town planning is a big problem to students. He added that some students pick ear problems in schools because of the noisy business premises.
