In a presentation at the signing ceremony of this agreement, the head of the project “NASMAA”, Karim Essakalli, said that “Morocco, with its African roots and its constant commitment to Africa, has always made South-South cooperation a strategic choice supported by the enlightened leadership of HM King Mohammed VI”.
That is why “the Lalla Asmaa Foundation wanted to join the Royal vision and spread the NASMAA campaign, which consists in the installation of cochlear implants for hearing impaired children, to all African countries,” said Essakalli, noting that seven countries will benefit from this operation initially: Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Gabon and Niger.
More than 30 hearing impaired children from these countries will be hosted in the Kingdom from October 17, to receive a cochlear implant at the level of university hospitals in the country and the military hospital in Rabat, he said.
For the success of the project, the Foundation worked with several partners, including FAAPA, the Moroccan News Agency (MAP), the Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation, the Ministry of Solidarity, Social Integration and the Family, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, the OCP, Bank of Africa, and the Lions Club, he said.
Planned for 2023, the second phase of this project will consist of developing technology transfer to African countries, added Essakalli, noting that Moroccan ENT surgeons will travel for this purpose.
The purpose of this trip is to ensure the training of medical staff in these countries in the surgical practice of this technique and the provision by Morocco of at least 100 implants per year, offered by the Lalla Asmaa Foundation, he said.
In addition, Essakalli said that “the detection of deafness and its management must be one of the major objectives of our society to avoid the spectrum of delinquency to children who suffer from this disability.
That is why the Lalla Asmaa Foundation has launched the campaign “NASMAA”, with the aim of achieving the installation of cochlear implants for more than 800 children in Morocco, to enable them to regain their hearing, he concluded.
