His Excellency Hameed Al Qutami, General Manager of the Dubai Health Authority, opened the 1st Arab Cochlear Implant Conference at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai, under the generous patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance, and President of the Dubai Health Authority, and with support from the Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences. His Excellency Dr. Bassel Al-Sabah (Minister of Health in Kuwait), Dr. Hussein Abdel Rahman Al Rand (Secretary General of the Conference), and His Excellency Abdulla Bin Souqat (Executive Manager of the Hamdan Medical Award), were honorary guests at the conference.
In his opening speech, His Excellency Al Qatami welcomed Dr. Bassel al Sabah and the esteemed guests for attending the conference, given that audio rehabilitation is steadily gaining momentum as a medical specialization and is advantaging from vast technological developments in cochlear implantation and other procedures targeted at improving the quality of life of patients with hearing difficulties.
He also assured that the Dubai Health Authority has made concerted efforts at organizing awareness programs focused on early detection and intervention and the provision of support services to the wider community. These actions are taken under the direction of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the generous support of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and the continual supervision of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
His Excellency Dr. Al Rand stated: “We had introduced cochlear implant procedures in Kuwait in 2001, and we have reaped the success that has followed since then, and the overwhelmingly positive reactions we have seen in our pediatric and adult patients following the implant. This conference offers the opportunity for physicians to receive up-to-date clinical developments and exchange knowledge and experience, which I am certain they will disclose generously.”
Conference Chairman Dr. Abdelrahman Hagr added: “Our slogan this year is ‘Together, hearing is better’. We call upon the combined efforts of major decision-makers to work towards a better life in the Arab world, free of illness and suffering.
Furthermore, Dr. Al Rand, chief of the organizing committee, stated that hearing impairments have been on a global rise in recent years; therefore, this conference hopes to disseminate useful and updated clinical information, via discussions between physicians, in order to tackle this issue.
200 lectures, 22 training sessions, and 6 workshops took place over the course of the conference, including 3 key lectures led by Dr. Michael Dorman (emeritus professor of speech and hearing sciences at Arizona State University’s College of Health Solutions), Professor Dr. Tomas Lenarz (Chairman of the Otorhinolaryngology department at Hannover Medical School), and Dr. Michael Douglas (speech-language pathologist and Aural Rehabilitation Manager at MED-EL).
