Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale/MoH
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has launched an Ear and Hearing Care Programme at Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH), saying the initiative will expand access to ear and hearing services and strengthen early detection of hearing loss.
Speaking during the launch, Duale said the programme brings together research, innovation and strategic partnerships to address gaps in healthcare delivery, particularly for people living with hearing loss.
"I will come one day and try. I had the privilege of launching a very important exercise. It is important to a section of our society: the ear and the hearing initiatives here at KUH.
"It shows how research, innovation, and strategic partnerships can closelong-standing gaps in healthcare delivery. Hearing loss affects more than one million Kenyans. And if left undetected, it can have very long-lasting consequences for communication, education, and social inclusion."
"I am encouraged that the school and the community screening program have already identified more than 900 children with hearing needs. Over 100 children have received hearing aids at KUH, while about 80 high-risk newborns have undergone hearing screening. And this demonstrates the feasibility of integrating hearing screening into our routine newborn care," Duale said.
Duale said KUTRRH will establish what he described as the country's first structured universal newborn hearing screening service within the public health system.
"KUH will establish the first of its kind in our country, a structured universal newborn hearing screening service within the public health system. Our newborns in the first month, the third month, and by the sixth month of that newborn, early detection and early screening has been done. And also those who are born with some complications."
According to Duale, this is a landmark initiative as it will strengthen early diagnosis, help to do very timely intervention for infants with hearing loss, ensuring that children receive care they need during the most critical years of development.
"So it also complements our broader objective of EWENE - the Every Woman, Every Newborn agenda, which we want to seek to improve both newborn survival and lifelong development outcomes," he said.
