By Jacintha Jolene
KUCHING: The Sarawak government is committed to providing funds for cochlear implants for underprivileged and low-income patients.
Women, Early Childhood and Community Well-being Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said as of this month, her ministry had approved eight cochlear implants and one auditory brainstem implant for six children and adolescents.
She said the government effort entailed an expenditure of RM535,000 to help those with hearing problems.
“While we know this process is very expensive, the big changes that take place in these children’s lives can make us content and happy,” she said.
Fatimah said the children who underwent surgery are now beginning to show very encouraging progress.
They can now respond well to sound, start to vocalise, produce vowels and continue to undergo scheduled hearing follow-up and speech rehabilitation in their respective areas, she revealed.
Fatimah said this at the launching of the Sarawak Hearing and Aural Rehabilitation Society (Sarawak HEAR) screening and health carnival at Farley Mall, today.
In this regard, she said the social support system provided by the Sarawak government could thus help individuals in the state to live a normal life without feeling excluded.
“If we want to develop a government or state, it cannot only focus on infrastructure development and the economy but must be holistic.
“We need to look at social development so that our state develops holistically,” she added.
Sarawak HEAR Society organised the 2022 Hearing, Ear Nose Throat (ENT) and Health Screening Carnival in an effort to spread hearing, ear, nose and throat health among the community.
The event also saw the handing over of a cheque jointly sponsored by HearLIFE Hearing Care Centre Sarawak and Swiss Medicare Sdn Bhd to Sarawak HEAR for 20 units of Phonak hearing aids worth RM99,400.
Also present were Sarawak HEAR President Professor Dr Ting Ing Ping, Sarawak HEAR Vice President Alexander Stephen, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) Faculty of Medicine and Health Science Dean Professor Dr Asri Said and Swiss Medicare Group chief executive officer Vincent Cheong.
