Global Health
Otorhinolaryngology training in Haiti: a call for accompaniment
Haiti is a small Caribbean country in which a group of freedom fighters successfully defied Napoleon and the French military. It has faced embargoes, economic isolation, political crises and devastating natural disasters since its independence. Its GDP is 0.01% of...
Developing ENT and audiology services in Southern Africa (Part 2)
In the last issue of ENT & Audiology News, we heard from retired Professor Christopher Prescott on the challenges faced and progress made made locally to address the inequity and inequality of access to ENT and allied health professional services...
Developing ENT and audiology services in Southern Africa
Much has been said of the paucity of ENT and its related services in low- and middle-income countries. This article from a retired paediatric otolaryngologist discusses the progress that has been made locally to redress these health inequalities. He has...
Prof Tanon of the Côte d’Ivoire and Stephanie Unterrieder of MED-EL: challenges and successes of a public-private partnership
The Côte d’Ivoire (RCI) is a large country on the West African coast. It has recently launched a pioneering neonatal hearing screening programme. Dr Cheka Spencer caught up with Prof Marie-Josée Tanon to discuss this and other recent developments which...
AHNS Endocrine Section Developing World Female Travel Grant and its 2021 recipient Dr Oghogho Eloghosa Braimah
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of transnational cooperation. There is a need to improve the education of all healthcare professionals on a global setting.This is especially so, as it is universally acknowledged that low- and middle- income countries...
Cochlear implantation in Tanzania: the journey and the outcomes
It is estimated that over 400 million people worldwide live with disabling hearing loss, 39.9 million of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa [1]. This article by Dr Aveline Kahinga and Mr Ali Jaffer demonstrates the effort that has been made...
Head and neck cancer deaths to cost $535 billion by 2030
More than 500,000 people across the globe will die this year from head and neck cancer, which is the sixth most common cancer in the world and comprises malignancies of the nose, mouth, throat, larynx, and neck. Assuming current trends...
Virtual educational outreach in the COVID-19 era
Existing surgical outreach programmes to developing countries have been severely curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This has impacted on opportunities for otolaryngologists from the USA and from other developed countries to contribute to education and training of otolaryngologists in developing...
COVID-19: UCT-Africa Virtual ENT transcends academic silos
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a global catastrophe with far-reaching consequences felt across many fronts around the world. One such aspect is the training of the future generation of ENT surgeons. With routine elective activity curtailed, academic conferences cancelled, and...
#BecauseIhearIlive – an international message from Smiling Crocodile
There are 34 million children worldwide afflicted by disabling hearing loss, 60% of whom are suffering from hearing loss due to preventable causes [1]. This article is an account of the Smiling Crocodile Charity, founded in 2009 by Dagmar Herrmannová,...
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ear health in the 2020s
The world is in the midst of a pandemic, and global health is severely threatened by this novel coronavirus which has caused over three million infections of COVID-19 and claimed more than 228,000 lives to date*. Societies and health systems...
Charitable hearing care in Pakistan: establishing the IMRA Cochlear Implant Programme and Middle Ear Project
IMRA, the International Medical Relief Agency, is a registered charity providing volunteer-delivered cochlear implant and major ear surgery to children and adults in Pakistan. Established in 2001 by UK-based ENT surgeons led by Mr Haroon Khan, its primary aim is...
