BSMMU gives hearing devices to 40 children

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) handed over 41 cochlear implant devices, an electronic hearing tool known as bionic ear, to 40 hearing-impaired children and an adult yesterday.

The devices, worth of Tk 10 lakh, will be set inside the patient's ear through an implantation surgery after the Eid vacation in July, and they will be able to hear and talk, the authorities told a discussion in the capital's BSMMU auditorium.

The cost of the surgery is around 15 lakh including the device price, said Prof Abul Hasnat Joarder, project director of the cochlear implantation programme.

Thirty-five patients will have to pay Tk 15,000 each and the other six Tk 50,000, he said.

The rest of the money will come from  the social welfare ministry and it is the second phase of the initiative.

BSMMU will also help the children to learn language to lead a normal life, he said.

Between July 2010 and June 2013, 54 hearing-impaired patients were cured in the first phase, said Prof Ali Asgor Moral, treasurer of BSMMU.

“We help the hearing-impaired people, especially children, through the project. So we need more fund allocation from the social welfare ministry to extend the project,” he said.

BSMMU Vice Chancellor Prof Kamrul Hasan Khan also spoke at the programme.