RCK ‘Bay’ to organize free medical camp for Hearing / Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) problems at Ormara Balochistan.

Introduction: Pakistan is a developing country with inadequate health facilities and lack of effective communication mechanism. We, on behalf of Rotary Club of Karachi Bay, Pakistan, are looking forward to creating awareness amongst general population of rural areas pertaining to the hearing impairment and disability amongst children and adults. We Rotary Club of Karachi ‘Bay’ intend to start our hearing ad campaign with the collaboration and help of Taj Welfare Trust (An organization effectively working on this cause) and Pakistan Navy.

Objective: In this activity, we aim to work on creating awareness about the hearing issue, disability and giving the initial treatment through our planned medical camp in collaboration with an independent organization Taj Welfare Trust. Generally, the hearing disability occur in the society due to the trend of inter-family marriages and noise pollution issues. Individuals who are suffering from hearing loss could face psychological and physical problems at some stages of life if not treated.

An estimated of two million people in Karachi are facing hearing impairment and most of them cannot be treated because of lack of awareness, scarce relevant medical facilities and affordability. Although there is no accurate data available about hearing impairment or hearing loss but an estimated 10 to 15% of Karachi’s population is suffering from mild, moderate and severe hearing loss due to multiple factors.

According to the WHO report of 2020 around 466 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss, and 34 million of these are children. It is estimated that by 2050 over 900 million people will suffer disabling hearing loss. Hearing loss may result from genetic causes, complications during birth, certain infectious diseases, chronic ear infections, use of particular drugs, exposure to excessive noise, and ageing.

60% of childhood hearing loss is due to preventable causes. Across the world about a billion young people (aged between 12–35 years) are at risk of hearing loss due to exposure to noise in recreational settings. Unaddressed hearing loss poses an annual global cost of US$ 750 billion. Interventions to prevent, identify and address hearing loss are cost-effective and can bring great benefit to individuals.

People with hearing loss benefit from early identification; use of hearing aids, cochlear implants and other assistive devices; captioning and sign language; and other forms of educational and social support. Current estimates suggest a gap of 83% in hearing aid need and use, i.e., only 17% of those who could benefit from use of a hearing aid actually use one.

Duration and Location of Project: This is one day project and will be held at Ormara Baluchistan on Sunday 13^th December, 2020. Male / Female Ear/Nose/Throat (ENT) Doctors / Specialist along-with Male and Female Audiologist will be with our team.

Planned Activities: Medical camp will be arranged at Naval Hospital, Ormara Baluchistan, ENT doctors will initially inspect the patients and on their recommendation, Hearing performance test will be conducted by Male / Female Audiologists accordingly will give them the initial medical aid if needed by Doctors team / Audiologists. General medicines relate to this campaign / ENT issues will also be provided

The patients who are in dire need the hearing aids and also could not afford the equipment will be registered on the recommendation of Audiologist and ENT specialist. Few Hearings will be distributed at the same time and rest of the Aids will be provided to registered patients within 1 month time.

Who will get benefit from the project: Every person can be the beneficiary of this facility without discrimination of Color, Racism, Religion, Gender or age.

Reckitt Benckiser (RB) to conduct disinfection drives in front-line public places in collaboration with national disaster management authority (NDMA).

Reckitt Benckiser (RB), the makers of leading health and hygiene brands including Dettol, Harpic, and Robin Bleach, has recently announced a collaboration with the Government’s frontline organization national disaster management authority (NDMA), to conduct disinfection drives across major high traffic public places in a bid to further their efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The disinfection drives will be held by the organization in front-line public places with high exposure including public hospitals, bus stops and railway stations in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. To maintain the effectiveness of the disinfection process, RB will use state of the art equipment and its high-quality disinfectant brand, Robin Bleach; a sodium hypochlorite-based product being used in compliance with WHO standards around disinfection (*WHO recommends bleach as an effective disinfectant against germs. However, WHO does not endorse any specific brand.)

On this collaboration, the Chairman of NDMA, Lieutenant General Muhammad Afzal said; “we believe there has never been a more important moment in time for the entire nation (public and private organizations) to work towards solving one of the most pressing problems. That is why NDMA has chosen to work with RB to complement its expertise and resources with RB’s high quality products to help protect as many people as possible and curtail the spread”.

The CEO of Reckitt Benckiser Hygiene Home Pakistan Limited, makers of Robin Bleach, Akbar Ali Shah, said; “as the world faces this unprecedented global health crisis, it is clear that no one can fight this war alone. We have been at the forefront of this battle since the outbreak. This unified effort on our part has been in the hopes to help the country flatten the curve of the spread of COVID-19, and to accelerate the return of everyday life”.

RB has been helping the country respond to the COVID-19 crisis, working directly for communities most affected by the pandemic with ration distributions, donation of healthcare kits, and continue to help with more donations to come including of hygiene product supplies. The organization has also been actively raising awareness by launching public service messages in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. RB also previously announced a commitment of Rs. 500 million for relief efforts to help the country fight the COVID-19 pandemic. These disinfection drives also come as part of RBPL’s efforts to step up preventive measures against the COVID-19 crisis.