Hearing loss: free medical care for little Nina from the Bank of Africa Togo Foundation

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Extract from the article: Deafness is a recurring problem in African communities. According to the WHO, around a third of people over the age of 65 are affected by disabling hearing loss, the majority of whom live in South Asia, the Asia-Pacific region and sub-Saharan Africa.

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Deafness is a recurring problem in African communities. According to the WHO, around a third of people over the age of 65 are affected by disabling hearing loss, the majority of whom live in South Asia, the Asia-Pacific region and sub-Saharan Africa. Among children, the situation is just as worrying. Many children are born with hearing difficulties or suffer from unilateral hearing loss. There are several underlying causes. These include heredity, disease, accidents and in-utero infections. The management of hearing loss in Africa is problematic. There is a shortage of specialists, poor technical facilities and, above all, a lack of financial resources to pay for treatment. This worsens the situation for some children and patients. Fortunately, there are people of good will, institutions which, through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy, come to the rescue of these people. Such is the case of Bank Of Africa (BOA) Togo. It is deeply committed to social and health promotion initiatives. In March 2024, in one of its initiatives, BOA TOGO granted a little girl called Nina, aged 4, full coverage of her deafness treatment. This action has given hope to her whole family.

In 2023, Nina, a kindergarten pupil at a school in Lomé, contracted mumps. « When we noticed Nina had the mumps, I took her to hospital for treatment.The next day, her teacher informed us that she was having difficulty hearing.In other words, Nina wasn't listening properly. At home in the evening, when we talk to her, she says she can't hear.I contacted a doctor who referred us to an ENT specialist.After diagnosis, the specialist said he was stunned because our daughter was suffering from very advanced hearing loss, even terminal and irreversible», testifies Nina's father, Mr. Shérif.

Nina's situation has plunged her whole family into distress and sadness. The treatment protocol carried out by the ENT specialist did not work. « The attending physician told me that this was the first time in his career that he had seen a child under the age of 5 with such severe hearing loss due to infection. So, there's no well-defined treatment protocol for this case in a child.He tried a treatment, but it didn't work. So we went around Lomé to some of the big clinics and public centers, but nothing.On the contrary, day by day, Nina's situation worsened. Eventually, she lost the ability to speak.Since she couldn't listen to anything, she couldn't speak. It was very, very difficult at home », sobbed Nina's father.

A glimmer of hope

An ENT doctor had told Nina's parents about a foundation that helps patients with various pathologies, including deafness, to receive appropriate treatment abroad.  « We hurried to the foundation's address.It's Bank Of Africa (BOA) Togo.Thank God it's real.Our daughter has been accepted for a treatment program », confided Mr. Shérif.

This is the NASMA program run by the BOA Foundation in collaboration with the Lalla Asmae Foundation based in Morocco.The aim of the program is to provide early diagnosis of hearing disorders in newborns and children under the age of 5, and to provide medical care so that they can regain their hearing thanks to cochlear implants and speech therapy, as well as an exchange of experience and expertise between Moroccan doctors and their colleagues in African countries.

The outcome

Nina benefited from a package of free treatments in Morocco. Today, she wears her cochlear implant, which enables her to follow the treatment process. « It's a great ray of hope for my family.Tears and sadness are gradually giving way to hope.My daughter's situation is just one of many in Africa in general and Togo in particular. I urge parents to approach Bank Of Africa Togo for information and to register their children to benefit from this program.On behalf of my entire family, I'd like to thank everyone we've contacted, who have not been indifferent. They did everything in their power to help us. Our special thanks to all the initiators and players in the NASMA program, the BOA and Lalla Asmae Foundations in Togo and Morocco », said Mr. Shérif gratefully. 

In addition to taking care of Nina, BOA Togo paid for the treatment of a 14-year-old girl suffering from breast cancer.She had been consulted during the free screening campaign organized by BOA.BOA Togo has also taken several other actions, including providing assistance to orphanages across the country.

Gamé KOKO