Residents of Bomi, Montserrado to Benefit Free Ear Treatment
By: Matalay Kollie, Bong County correspondent
Liberia: April 4, 2024 — As a means of promoting improved Healthcare in Liberia, Church Aid Incorporated is expected to conduct awareness and free treatment for people facing hearing difficulties in Bomi and Montserrado Counties.
Church Aid Incorporated is the relief arm of Water in the Desert Apposite Pentecostal Church located in Brewvillie, Monrovia, Liberia.
The Free Ear Treatment, according to Bishop Kortu Brown, head Bishop of the Apposite Pentecostal Church, is part of the Church’s Outreach Release Campaign intended to Promote Hearing Healthcare across the fifteen subdivisions of Liberia.
Bishop Kortu Brown disclosed that on Friday, April 5, 2024, a team of trained ear specialists will be in Tubmanbrug, Bomi County to conduct Screening and Testing of students suffering from hearing difficulties with subsequent treatment of people affected by hearing loss.
He further added that on Saturday, April 6, 2024, the team will be in Tubmanbrug, Bomi County to conduct such treatment and awareness for community residents at the Renewed Fellowship APC, New Road.
Moreover, Bishop Brown disclosed that on Monday, April 8, 2024, the team will again arrive in Jahmah Town, Montserrado County to conduct Screening, Testing, and Treatment for community residents suffering from hearing difficulties.
The former Liberian Council of Churches’ President asserted that the three days initiative is in commemoration of World Health Day, 2024. The free ear treatment is being observed under the team “So that the World May Hear”.
The initiative is being supported by the Starkey Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and partners.
Starkey Foundation is an American organization that has helped in the training of twenty Liberians sent to Lusaka in the Gambia to acquire specialized training in the treatment of ear complications; thus adding that the ear specialists are currently in the country treating people with ear difficulties.
Bishop Brown, addressing reporters recently in Bong County, also said over the past two months, the team of ear specialists has screened and tested a little over one thousand Liberians, citing that about one hundred fifty people of said number suffer from hearing loss as a result of Imparted Ear wax, Ear Infections, and the drop of Objects in the ear amongst others.
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) latest estimates suggest that the prevalence of hearing impairment (defined as Hearing loss gathered than 35 dB) for adults above age 15 years old was 15.7% in sub-Saharan Africa vs. 4.9% in high-income countries. For children aged between 5 and 14 years, the prevalence was estimated at 1.9% in sub-Saharan Africa.
