Under the Patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and President of Dubai Health Authority, the 11th GCC & 8th Emirates Otorhinolaryngology Audiology and Communication Disorders Conference opened at the InterContinental, Dubai Festival City. The ceremony was held in the presence of H.E. Humaid Mohammad Obaid Al Qutami, Director General, Dubai Health Authority; H.E. Dr. Hussein Abdel-Rahman Al Rand, Assistant Undersecretary for Health Clinics and Centers; as well as senior officials and leaders from the UAE’s, Gulf regions and global health sectors.
The conference will last until January 19 and will witness the participation of more than 2,000 professionals from different subspecialists of ENT, head and neck surgery including, allergies sleep specialist, rhinologists, communication and swallowing specialists, and research specialists in the field of ENT.
The conference will be gathering of the outstanding panel of experts from international and regional communities and will discuss the breakthroughs in various fields of ear, nose, and throat and head and neck surgery. More than 100 speakers from the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and the GCC will speak at the Forum. Ten research winners will receive accommodation and travel costs, as well as encouraging of young doctors in research activities.
Dr. Hussein Al Rand, President of the 8th Emirates Otorhinolaryngology Audiology and Communication Disorders Conference, emphasized the continuation of the ‘Help Me Hear initiative targeting deaf children in the framework of the Ministry of Health and Prevention’s (MOHAP) initiatives for the year of Zayed in 2018, which was directed by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of UAE.
After eight successful surgeries in 2017 under this initiative, we will continue to provide a free cochlear implant which costs between AED 150,000 to 200,000. The surgery will be performed at the Ministry of Health and Prevention hospitals. He added that the Ministry has been able to help hearing-impaired children from non-citizen and low-income families that cannot afford the treatment cost by providing free treatment. The hearing impaired children from UAE nationals are provided free implants and treatments all through the year.
Dr. Al Rand pointed out the importance of the continuation of the ‘Help Me Hear’ initiative in the year of Zayed due to the status of the late Sheikh Zayed and his vision and the great values he possessed. The initiative will commemorate his legacy as a symbol of humanity and will do good and the happiness of those in need. The year 2018 will be the most precious year and will be close to everyone's hearts, titled ‘Year of Zayed,’ after the founding father who created history, instilling goodness, tolerance, goodness and justice, to complement the wise leadership after him, the path of glory and the path of success and excellence for the country's prosperity.
He emphasized the importance of the conference, which is the largest of its kind in the MiddleEast as it includes a large number of doctors specializing in ENT. He further added that the forum will see 353 papers discuss the training workshops on the middle ear surgery and cochlear implants and explained that this event provided participants a chance to learn some protocols and techniques in the field of diagnosis and treatment of patients to keep pace with the latest research and medical studies in this field.
Dr. Al Rand pointed out the strategy of the Ministry to promote community health by providing comprehensive and innovative health services with a fair and global standard and to play the regulatory and supervisory role in the health sector through a comprehensive and integrated health legislative system. This includes efforts to achieve the highest standards of healthcare by 2021 according to the national vision of the UAE, to be one of the best countries in the year in health services.
The participants praised the success of the conference in terms of the high quality of lectures, workshops, and presentations presented by a number of international and regional experts. These experts also briefed on the advanced devices included in the exhibition accompanying the conference, in which audio companies presented the most prominent tools in this area with modern techniques.