Lagos, firm provide pupils with hearing aids

The Lagos State Government has said, as part of its efforts to reduce hearing impairment amongst schoolchildren, it has 

collaborated with a non-governmental organisation, Hearmax Initiative, to provide hearing aids to primary school pupils.

The state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, disclosed this, according to a statement on Wednesday, during an 

event where nine students with hearing impairment were presented with hearing aids in Lagos.

He said, “Hearing impairment amongst children most often continues undetected and eventually leads to perennial or 

permanent negative impacts on their academic performance. It is in recognition of the consequences of hearing impairment 

that the Lagos State Government, through the Ministry of Health, is collaborating with the Hearmax Initiative to provide 

nine primary school pupils with hearing aids.

“What we are doing in Lagos, under Mr Governor’s instruction, is to set up a pilot study to identify certain primary 

schools in each local government and screen them to see if we can pick up pupils with hearing impairment. Out of the 1,131 

pupils that were screened, 676 pupils had ear wax with foreign impaction, while 14 pupils passed the confirmatory tests 

for varying degrees of hearing loss, and nine of them were suitable for hearing aids.”

The Executive Director, Hearmax Initiative, Dr Ibraheem Salako, said his organisation is happy to collaborate with the 

Lagos State Government to provide succour to the nine pupils.

Punchng