(Gaza - 25/2/2018): A specialized Qatari medical team performed 30 cochlear implant surgeries on hearing-impaired children from the Gaza Strip at PRCS’ Al Quds Hospital. The team was chaired by Dr. Khaled Abdel Hadi and comprised Dr. Abdel Salam Al Kahtani, Head of the Qatari Cochlear Implants Program and Dr. Ali Al Saadi, Head of the Ear Surgery Unit at Hamad Medical Corporation. The Qatari doctors, who arrived in the Gaza Strip early last week, were assisted by anaesthetists and surgeons from Al Quds Hospital.
Cooperation between PRCS, the Qatari Red Crescent Society and Hamad Medical City is longstanding. 68 cochlear implant surgeries have already been successfully performed on hearing-impaired children followed by rehabilitation sessions at His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Hospital for Rehabilitation and Prostheses in the northern Gaza Strip.
According to Dr. Abdul Hadi, cooperation between these three parties shall continue and more such surgeries are scheduled in the future. He lauded efforts made by PRCS and Al Quds Hospital to facilitate the team’s work by providing operating rooms, an in-patient ward and a clinic to ensure medical follow-up.
Dr. Khalil Abu Foul, Al Quds Hospital Director, said these efforts aim at enhancing cooperation between PRCS and various humanitarian and medical bodies with a view to allaying the suffering of Palestinians. He thanked the government and people of Qatar for the support they provide to the health sector in the Gaza Strip and addressed special thanks to the generous persons who donated the implanted cochlear devices. PRCS, he said, shall maintain its open door policy and do its utmost to offer medical services to all patients, especially to children.
A census on disability prevalence carried out by PRCS in the Gaza Strip in 2012 revealed that 1.3% of disabled Palestinians under the age of five are hearing-impaired, which is nearly seven times higher than the average in the rest of the world.
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