MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGH
Four lives changed forever following milestone procedure
The lives of four individuals and their families have been changed forever by the ground breaking medical technology of Cochlear Implants. The half-a-million Pula procedure that has never been done in the history of medical health care in Botswana, was this week officially launched by Life Gaborone Private Hospital (GPH) in collaboration with government. GPH Hospital Superintendent, Dr Anthony Sibiya says the use of cochlear implants is a milestone in a journey that began in 2018, when Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist Dr Alakanani Zikhale proposed for the programme to be started in GPH. Following his training in Zimbabwe, four recipients underwent the procedure in Botswana.
In 1997, health specialists discovered that if you stimulate cochlear and various parts of an ear of a deaf person, they would be able to hear. So far, just over a million people with profound sensory deafness worldwide have had cochlear implanted.
“Not being able to hear is close to not being able to see in terms of disability. When you are deaf, you lose out significantly in the way you relate with the environment. Children cannot even speak if they cannot hear,” Dr Sibiya said. He said the launch of the cochlear implants procedure in Botswana is a collaboration of various health professionals that worked closely together from the beginning and will continue to monitor how the implants operate to maximise use. Dr Zikhale who has been at the forefront of the programme explains that a cochlear implant is an electronic device implanted behind the ear, near the brain to stimulate the nerve. He is quick to also point out that it is not a hearing aid as it does not amplify sound but works by bypassing any damage that the ear might have had and stimulates the nerve to enable hearing. “This journey started with a growing demand in the Ministry of Health and Wellness,” he says, adding that in instances where hearing aids could not help, patients would be out of options. He added that cochlear implants are able to help patients with sudden loss of hearing, and children born deaf if intervention is made before they are four years old. “For a child born deaf, if this is implanted before they are four, they can enjoy a normal life from childhood to adulthood, enjoy their educational years and later a job,” Dr Zikhale, who is set to leave for Austria for further training next month, said. “There are people who as a result of certain medications lose their hearing, but cochlear implant is the solution. The procedure is iconic, magical and life-changing indeed,” Dr Zikhale says, adding that the procedure has also opened opportunities for collaborations beyond borders, as doctors from Zimbabwe and South Africa were present during operations for quality control among other things. Among the four patients is 28-year-old Tamasane Pitsa, who lost hearing at the age of 13 that has now been restored. She had suffered an infection that unfortunately caused her hearing loss. Another is Mogomotsi Kgari, who lost his ability to hear in 2016. Kgari said his right ear was completely deaf, while his left was partially deaf and could respond to a hearing aid. The 39-year-old is happy that after six years of not being able to hear, he now can and has even resumed work. “This is definitely a second chance for me,” he says. Atlasaone Noga is the youngest of the four, at only three years old. He was born deaf. His mother says she worried about what would become of her son, when she was no longer around. “It was a big challenge, and I wanted so much to hear my child speak. But now, this procedure means the world to me, because it has changed our lives forever,” she says. Dr Zikhale emphasises the need for screening of newborn babies so that by the time they leave the hospital, they have been cleared. He explains that for babies, it is easy to leave the situation too late before parents notice any disability. Further explaining however, that once signs are detected earlier, interventions can be done. “Atlasaone was only four months away from the cut off age. He nearly missed this opportunity, that is why it is critical for screenings to be done early in order to give children a better chance at a high quality of life,” he says. The forth recipient is 54-year-old Shima Moabi who lost his hearing as a result of a brain infection.