health

Children await implants

A total of 30 hearing-impaired children are on the waiting list for inner ear implants at the Instituto de Implantes Cocleares, but the facility lacks the resources to cover the costs of operations, said Cynthia Guy, the institute’s executive director.

The implant is a device that simulates hearing by translating sounds into electrical signals, stimulating the auditory nerve.

So far, four children and two adults have received implants at the institute, but at a cost of $21,000 for the device alone, Guy admitted that the facility needs the government to help finance the procedure.

Alberto Bissot, director of the Hospital del Niño, explained that the Caja de Seguro Social (CSS) doesn’t cover the cochlear implants, meaning those who have received the implants have done so through private funds or charitable donations.

Likewise, clinical exams to determine if the child qualifies for the operation are generally paid for by parents or donated funds.

According to data from the country’s first national survey of people with disabilities, conducted in 2005-06, about 80,000 people suffer from some level of deafness.

Hearing specialists indicate that the sooner the device is implanted, the greater the chance will be that the child will develop normal oral language skills.

The first cochlear implants were developed by American doctor William F. House in 1961, and was designed to help with lip-reading. The device has been implanted in babies as young as six months in the United States.