AT least 500 people with hearing impairments will, in a matter of weeks, experience the joy of being able to hear for the first time and for some other persons, have their hearing

restored.
All this is being made possible, thanks to the Starkey Hearing Foundation of the United States, on a visit to Guyana to bring hope and relief to persons with hearing problems.

“We are here to identify patients in Guyana who may be beneficiaries of the free hearing aids we provide for patients all around the world,” said Dr. Luqnan Lawall, Director of Global Health and Research of the Starkey Hearing Foundation. He said the initiative is an attempt to bridge access gaps by providing free hearing tests and making ear impressions, then fitting them with custom-made hearing aids in a sustainable way.

Last Thursday, a five-member team of international personalities from the Starkey Foundation commenced a two- day exercise which entailed the testing and making of impressions, to be followed with the distribution of hearing aids.
Hosted by the Ministry of Public Health and the Office of the First Lady, Mrs. Sandra Granger, the initiative had the support of the staff of the Department of Audiology, Georgetown Public Hospital, volunteers from the Lions Club of Bel Air and Demerara Lions Club, among others. The medical team was assisted by about 15 local audiology technicians trained by the Starkey team during a visit here last year. And offering his services as a volunteer interpreter was Mr Noah Balcom.

The testing and making of ear impressions done at the Sophia Exhibition Complex, constituted Phase One of the project and are to be followed up by Phase II in June, which is the supply and actual fitting of the patients with custom-made aids free of cost to the recipients.
Founder of the Starkey Foundation, Mr Bill Austin of Minnesota, is expected to be here at that visit and will witness the momentous exercise. Even though the patients are largely senior citizens, there were many young children in the midst.
The exercise wrapped up on Friday with team leader, Dr Lukman Lawal, Director of Global Health & Research, commenting that the exercise had been a “win-win” situation for both the foundation and the Guyanese nation.

Commenting on the impact of both rounds of visits – 2016 and 2017 — Dr Lawal told the Guyana Chronicle: “The impact has been tremendous in the sense that we were able to build local capacity. And as you can see today, apart from one of our international team leaders who is an audiologist, we have four other local senior audiology technicians who are supporting us doing the impressions. It enhances the work flow; it improves efficiency and it really reduces resources that would have had to be brought in from the U.S.
Dr Lawal said that the cost of one hearing aid is approximately G$65,000 and attendant services such as professional interventions, batteries, and maintenance of the hearing aids could run into as much as half a million dollars per person, something low-income persons in Guyana would not be able to afford.

A leading health care organisation in the world, Starkey Foundation has organisations in about 52 countries, including Sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, South-East Asia, Asia, Pacific and low and middle-income countries.
The visit comes on the heels of two previous ones last year – in February,on Mrs Granger and then later, on Minister of Health, Dr George Norton. Some 200 patients were tested and had impressions done and on the second visit in June, they were fitted with hearing aids.

Partnership and capacity-building
Dr Lawal stressed the importance of partnership with the local communities if the programme were to be successful. And by this token, on their first visit, Starkey immediately embraced the Department of Audiology and the Ministry of Public Health as vital partners.
Dr Lawal cautioned that there was no need for panic if the hearing aid appeared to be malfunctioning. “Take them into your audiologists, since it might just be that the battery needs changing.”

He listed some precautions:
• Take off hearing aids before going to sleep;
• Do not bathe with aids on;
• Keep aids in a safe place when not being used;
• Do not use them on sticky surfaces. This compromises the lifespan.

Project cost
Asked to put a dollar value to the work being undertaken in Guyana, Dr Lawal said: “Though it can run into millions of U.S. dollars, I do not want to put a cost to it. However, it’s extremely invaluable. There is nothing like the joy you feel when you see kids coming from all the regions and the tears of joy of parents when their babies begin to hear.”
Funding of the foundation, he said, is done largely through donations from the founder’s hearing aids manufacturing company–about 80 per cent. There are other donors too, such as football stars, musicians and others in the U.S. Donations run from as little as five dollars to as much as millions of dollars and the foundation has always been grateful.