Papua New Guinea Pilot Project

The Hear and Say WorldWide team intends to undertake a pilot project in Port Moresby, Papau New Guinea.  There are presently over 500 children with hearing loss born in PNG every year, many in rural and remote regions that have very poor health infrastructure.

PNG has been chosen for our Hear and Say WorldWide pilot project primarily because of:

• Proximity to Australia.
  
  
• 1 successful cochlear implant child and 2 new children with cochlear implants in PNG, the latter in Port Moresby.
  
  
• Urgent need due to few services for children with hearing loss.  There is presently no existing oral education in PNG and few medical and audiological specialists.
  
  
• Social ostracism for the deaf.
  
  
• Minimal hearing technology and diagnostic equipment; and
  
  
• Existing technology is often missing or poorly maintained.

 

Composition of initial team to be trained

1 ENT surgeon/general practitioner

1 audiologist

2 teachers/health care service workers

1 special education teacher trainee

 

Expected professional training outcomes

ENT surgeon/general practitioner -

• Prevention of ear disease.
• Knowledge of current hearing technology and treatments.
• Surgical techniques for treatment.
• Hearing aid fitting.
• Cochlear implant surgery and follow up.

Audiologist -

• Basic audiology.
• Diagnostic audiology.
• Hearing technological devices.
• Follow up and trouble shooting services.

Teachers/Health Care Service Workers -

• Basic audiology and education techniques.
• Working with parents.
• Teaching listening and spoken language using current hearing technology.
• Trouble shooting.

 

How many children will this help?

Each education professional can see up to 16 children per week on an ongoing basis when fully trained.  Therefore, as two education hearing healthcare workers will be trained initially in Port Moresby, this may allow 32 newborns from PNG, who would never have had the chance to listen and speak, to achieve listening and speech within the normal range within 2-3 years, once the professionals are able to take on a full case load.  Nevertheless, maximum effectiveness of outcomes will only be achieved where young babies are diagnosed as early as possible, with therapy commencing before six months of age.

Reconnaissance visit

A successful two day reconnaissance visit to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea took place from 24-26 June 2007.  The visiting team included Dimity Dornan (Hear and Say Centre Managing Director and Founder), Jane Black (Hear and Say Centre Director and Medical Advisor) and Emma Rushbrooke (Hear and Say Centre Clinical Director).  Dr Chris Perry (ENT Surgeon) kindly provided transport and chaperone services for the team.  Airfares from Australia to Papua New Guinea were generously donated by Air Niugini.  The Crowne Plaza in Port Moresby also provided a reduced accommodation rate.

The primary objective for this initial visit was to establish the feasibility of the proposed Port Moresby pilot project.

Other intended aims of the visit included:

• Gaining basic knowledge of the local medical and audiological facilities;
  
• Observing medical practice and professional skill levels of local practitioners;
  
• Assessing the nature of local educational services and facilities;
  
• Better understanding the local culture and operating environment;
  
• Identifying potential project partners; and
  
• Gaining firsthand experience for developing our own local training and service delivery model for Port Moresby.