His Royal Highness Prince Saud bin Naif, the Crown Prince of the Eastern Province stated that “we will work together in order to establish a specialized Cochlear Implantation center in the Eastern Province.” His speech was during the opening of the first Cochlear Implantation forum which was organized by the University of Dammam represented by the Cochlear Implantation Unit in King Fahad University Hospital. The forum was held in Le Meridien Al Khobar on Monday 21, March 2016. It was attended by the President of the University Dr. Abdullah Al Rubaish, Prof. Laila Al-Telmesani head of the Cochlear Implantation Unit, a number of experts in the field of Cochlear Implantation and Cochlear Implantation patients and their parents.
His Royal Highness mentioned that “I am proud to inaugurate this first Cochlear Implantation forum and to share this happy moment with our children after their successful recovery. This surgery was put to practice due to the importance of hearing that is a crucial factor in interacting with others therefore, a hearing disability is one of the hardest disabilities to adapt to. It makes human interaction very difficult.” Also, his Royal Highness welcomed the forum’s visitors and participants and he sent his thanks to Dr. Abdullah Al Rubaish, the President of the University and his colleagues the faculty members in the University, staff members of the King Fahad University Hospital and the supporting agencies.
The hearing Cochlear Implantation program is considered a huge addition to the provided health services in the Eastern Province and is considered as well as an awareness initiative to social services. The program has achieved a very high level due to the support that the health services in the Eastern Province receive from the government of the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques. Also, the health services in the Kingdom has gained a higher level due to continuous development which resulted in providing services that have not been available before. This indicates the capability of the country’s cadres to use the latest developments in order to serve their country and nation.
Dr. Abdullah Al Rubaish mentioned during his speech that “this program has been brought about in order to satisfy the needs of disabled persons in the areas of development, integration into the community and the surrounding environment and to act in response to the instructions of the government. Therefore, in the year of 1438/1438 H after completing all the needed requirements the University of Dammam will start accepting hearing disability students only after they achieve the rehabilitation period in some of the academic programs.
Then HRH meet Cochlear Implantation patients and their parents and took memorial photos. The ceremony included an introductory presentation on hearing loss and Electronic Cochlear Implantation which was presented by Prof. Laila Al-Telmesani an Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery Consultant, head of the Cochlear Implantation Unit. Prof. Laila Al-Telmesani spoke about the history of Cochlear Implantation in the University Hospital and she pointed out in her presentation that according to a statistic in 2015 around 5000 children in the Kingdom have hearing disabilities, 650 children in the Eastern Province alone, 32 million children world wide and 100 cases are on the waiting list in the King Fahad University Hospital in Al Khobar. At the end of the forum a documentary film titled “I hear you, I’m here” was presented.
