Inaugurating the Fourth International Conference for the Health of Hearing and Balance in Cooperation with Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Arab Academy, German Lubeck University and Unlimited Hearing

On behalf of Her Royal Highness Princess Muna Al Hussein, Health Minister Dr Mahmood Al-Shyyab inaugurated the Fourth Annual International Conference for the Health of Hearing and Balance which is sponsored by Al-Ahliyya Amman University in cooperation with the Arab Academy for Hearing and Balance, German Lubeck University and the Initiative of Unlimited Hearing affiliated with the Crown Prince. The conference was held at the Dead Sea's Kempinski Hotel amid a crowd of attendants, experts, specialists, academics, guests and invitees.The Chairwoman of the conference, Dr. Shatha Saleh, said that the conference built for the first time bridges with speakers from five different continents. She also said that we would build new bridges and hold cooperative agreements with specialized societies from Egypt and Saudi Arabia within the activities of the conference. She indicated that within the activities of the conference, a scientific achievement award will be granted to one of the pioneers in this field, for the first time. This year it would be awarded to Prof. Yousef Halees.The Chairman of Arab Academy for Hearing and Balance, Dr. Khalid Abd Al-Hadi, said that according to World Health Organization statistics, there are more than six hundred and fifty million people in the world suffering from poor hearing. He also said that the Academy since its foundation strives to create educational programs to raise the level of specialists and to reduce the suffering of patients who are lately diagnosed and who lack technology and expertise.The Director of the Initiative Unlimited Hearing affiliated with the Foundation Crown Prince, Sakhr Al-Fayez, said that the first operation cochlear implants in the Kingdom took place at the Royal Medical Services in 2003 with a personal support of His Majesty King Abdullah II. Hence the initiative of the Crown Prince Unlimited Hearing was launched on 20 December 2014 as a natural continuation of the Hashemites' interest in the medical field. He added that establishing the Crown Prince Foundation during the previous years became the Jordanian umbrella for humanitarian and youth initiatives launched by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. At the top of these activities was the initiative Unlimited Hearing. Al-Fayez said that the current plans include the establishment of regional offices in collaboration with the Royal Medical Services in the south and north of the Kingdom. These offices would enable the citizens to get the initiative services through their residential regions and also to cooperate with the Ministry of Health in order to activate early diagnosis program of auditory disabilities through comprehensive medical centers affiliated with the Ministry.The President of Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Prof. Sadiq Hamid, said that 12% of the world population suffers from hearing disabilities and speech. He added that the University initiated the opening of hearing and speech specialization within the Faculty of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences. He also said that the University agreed with the American Salus University to develop a program which awards the Doctorate Certificate in Hearing and Speech. Prof. Hamid stated that the Department of Hearing and Speech intends to communicate with the local community through visits made to public and private schools, orphanages and child care, to diagnose cases of audio disability and speech. He added that the University would invite those people to the University and provide the necessary treatment to them. Actually the University had treated about four thousand cases with rates of success up to 95%. The representative of the German Lubeck University, Marian Freckle, praised the chairwoman of the German Academy for Hearing and Balance in cooperation with the Arab and the German Academies. Freckle called for paying more attention to hearing and speech problems in light of the increasing number of patients in the world at large.At the end of the inauguration ceremony, the representative of Her Royal Highness Princess Muna Al Hussein, Minister of Health, received the conference shield from the Head of the Arab Academy. He also handed the shield of the Scientific Achievement to Prof. Yousef Halees. On the side line of the conference, a medical exhibition was opened with many participating companies specializing in hearing and speech. The conference discussed over three days 70 lectures provided by 72 specialized lecturers from Germany, America, Austria, Britain, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco and Jordan, and with the participation of specialists from 26 Arab and foreign countries. Moreover, 23 workshops including 11 specialized ones were set up on the sidelines of the conference.