Tororo priest regains hearing
Feb 20, 2009
A CATHOLIC priest from Tororo on Thursday had his hearing restored after more than a year of deafness.
By Chris Kiwawulo
A CATHOLIC priest from Tororo on Thursday had his hearing restored after more than a year of deafness.
Fr. Andrew Onyango was treated by five American medics together with Dr. Michael Awubwa, the head of the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) at Mulago Hospital.
After the operation, Onyango was taken to the computer laboratory at the Makerere University faculty of computing and information technology to have the implant activated by internet.
The operation that costs around $50,000 (about sh100m) in the US, was offered to Onyango free of charge by the Cochlear Americas company based in Colorado, USA. The company makes implantable hearing devices. “The cochlear implant alone costs $25,000 (about sh50m),†said Prof. Thomas Roland, who led a team of three doctors and two nurses.
The implant replaces the part of the damaged inner ear. It receives sound signals and sends them to the nerves, skipping the non-working parts.
Roland explained that the device enables someone to decipher different sounds like speech and telephone calls.
Onyango was the second Ugandan to benefit from the company’s charity. The first one was David Nuwagaba in 2008.
One out of 1,000 children is born deaf, according to Awubwa, the ENT expert.
The most common causes of hearing loss are ear infections, foreign bodies in the ear and loud noise. Drugs like quinine and asprin can cause the problem as well as meningitis, measles and mumps. Awubwa urged the public to seek medical care.
A CATHOLIC priest from Tororo on Thursday had his hearing restored after more than a year of deafness.
Fr. Andrew Onyango was treated by five American medics together with Dr. Michael Awubwa, the head of the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) at Mulago Hospital.
After the operation, Onyango was taken to the computer laboratory at the Makerere University faculty of computing and information technology to have the implant activated by internet.
The operation that costs around $50,000 (about sh100m) in the US, was offered to Onyango free of charge by the Cochlear Americas company based in Colorado, USA. The company makes implantable hearing devices. “The cochlear implant alone costs $25,000 (about sh50m),†said Prof. Thomas Roland, who led a team of three doctors and two nurses.
The implant replaces the part of the damaged inner ear. It receives sound signals and sends them to the nerves, skipping the non-working parts.
Roland explained that the device enables someone to decipher different sounds like speech and telephone calls.
Onyango was the second Ugandan to benefit from the company’s charity. The first one was David Nuwagaba in 2008.
One out of 1,000 children is born deaf, according to Awubwa, the ENT expert.
The most common causes of hearing loss are ear infections, foreign bodies in the ear and loud noise. Drugs like quinine and asprin can cause the problem as well as meningitis, measles and mumps. Awubwa urged the public to seek medical care.