Evercare Partners MED-EL in Providing Hearing Solutions to Nigeria

In commemoration of the World Hearing Day and in furtherance of its vision to improve auditory health in Nigeria, Evercare Foundation, a subsidiary of the Evercare Group has facilitated a partnership between Evercare Hospital, Lekki, and international hearing aid provider, MED-EL, to provide Cochlear hearing implants to Nigerians.

The MED-EL Cochlear hearing implants is one of the world’s most efficient hearing technology proven to restore hearing in patients who suffer hearing impairment.

The partnership between Evercare Hospital, Lekki, and MED-EL will localize access to hearing treatment solution in Nigeria thus cutting foreign travel cost, improve affordability to everyday Nigerians and strengthen the recovery process for patients.

The programme which is part of Evercare Foundation’s campaign tagged ‘HEAR THIS’, is aimed at providing access to Nigerians who suffer hearing impairment.

The partnership sealed with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the Evercare facility in Lagos, would mark the beginning of indigenous access and affordability to hearing impairment challenges.

Speaking with THISDAY on the sidelines of the occasion, Senior Director, Impact, Philanthropy, and Partnerships Evercare Foundation, Ms. Joumana Atwani, stated that the intervention in Nigeria is part of the Group’s mission to make quality healthcare accessible to all.

“The situation in many emerging markets is that low and middle income countries cannot afford this kind of surgery. So we are working with partners, donors, corporates and private sector to see how we can mobilize resources, establish partnerships so we can support children with this life changing operation.

“We had the flagship programme in Pakistan which provides free MED-EL Cochlear implants to children under five who cannot afford the treatment and not just the Cochlear implants surgery, we provide speech therapy and all kinds of rehabilitation that the child needs to go back to normal school.

“The Idea of this partnership is to transfer the success of ‘HEAR THIS’ to our hospital here in Nigeria. This partnership will start with access and then affordability so that we make this surgery affordable to those who cannot afford them.”

Business Development Africa and Regional Manager, MED-EL, Ms. Stephanie Unterrieder, noted that the partnership will democratize access to hearing such that every human can enjoy the sounds of life.

“Many types of hearing loss have been irreversible but now, through technology, with the Cochlear implants, hearing loss has been restored.

“The implant device the only medical device in the market that can restore human sense of hearing. The Cochlear implants based on two parts; the internal implant itself which is inserted under the skin of the patients and the external one which is worn.

“We would work with the multidisciplinary teams at Evercare Hospital from Ear, nose and throat surgeons to the patients and speech therapists who would emphasize and make sure that the patients are supported thought their hearing journey.”

Unterrieder said that the partnership would enable patients overcome hearing loss as a barrier to communication and quality of life.

Chief Commercial Officer, Evercare Group, Irfan Khan, expressed optimism in the partnership saying that it would inspire hope in patients and help them lead the life of their dreams.

“Our focus is to build developing teams and capacity, train and support not just our surgeons but also the wider team. The MoU is beyond the paper work. We are looking at what the next patients coming from and how we are going to affect lives.”