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A `giant leap' in boosting cross-border friendship

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

Indian doctor helps start Pakistan's cochlear implant programme

NEW DELHI: Indian doctors are taking what they call a `giant leap' in strengthening Indo-Pak friendship. Crossing frontiers to help set up Pakistan's first cochlear implant unit and to train doctors there, a unique joint collaboration saw experts from the United Kingdom, Austria, Turkey, India and Nepal work together at making this dream come true for the people of Pakistan.

At the Pakistan Cochlear Implant Programme meet, which concluded this past week, it was an Indian government doctor who along with top Pakistani doctors settled in the United Kingdom helped train 24 doctors in the first phase of the programme.

Helping Pakistan get on its feet with its cochlear implant unit, doctors hope that once the programme is established Pakistan will become self-reliant and patients there would not have to wait in long queues to either travel to nearby countries, including India or wait for a visiting doctor from the UK to perform the procedure.

"What politicians do, doctors do better. With doctors from across the world reaching out to Pakistan to help them start a Pakistan Cochlear Implant Programme it really felt like that entire world and gathered right there for a good cause,'' said senior ENT specialist at the Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, J. M. Hans, who was the Indian doctor selected to help set up the unit.

Modified technique

And while this was no ordinary trip for this Central government doctor, what Dr. Hans taught Pakistani doctors at the live cochlear implant surgery, organised at the First National Cochlear Implant Symposium held in Lahore, was a `modified version' of the traditional way of conducting a cochlear implant surgery, a technique that has also earned him several national awards in India.

"The symposium was organised by Pakistan Cochlear Implant Programme and experts who came to Lahore conducted scientific sessions, lectures, temporal bone dissection, audiology and rehabilitation workshops which were all part of the symposium. After the symposium, eight live cochlear implant operations were performed where we showed different cochlear implant surgery techniques,'' explained Dr. Hans, who would be soon going back to help supervise and what has been previously taught to Pakistani surgeons in phase one of the programme.

"I taught them the procedure that I have modified and used which requires less drilling of the skull and this heals quicker besides having other medical benefits. Talks are on in Pakistan to set up the facility at Gulberg Hospital in Lahore. We are proud of the help we have been able to extend and hope that patients would benefit from this experiment,'' added Dr. Hans.

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