Global ENT Outreach, with the help of otology books provided by Thieme Medical Publishers Inc, is working to improve the treatment options available for people affected by hearing-related disorders.

According to the World Health Organization, 80% of hearing impaired and deaf people live in low and middle-income countries, and 278 million people worldwide are estimated to have "moderate to profound hearing loss in both ears."

Thieme has regularly donated books over the last 10 years such as Otology, Neurotology, and Lateral Skull Base Surgery: An Illustrated Handbook (Krings, 2011), to ensure that the trainees have the latest and most comprehensive information available to perform the range of hearing-related procedures.

"The books have been super helpful; [Thieme Publishers] has been supportive of our work for at least 5 years now," says Richard Wagner, MD, director of Global ENT Outreach, in a press statement.

With training programs in countries such as Ecuador, Peru, El Salvador, Cambodia and American Samoa, Global ENT Outreach provides the facilities and resources to train future otologists to better serve their communities. The organization also seeks to provide access to affordable medical equipment, like hearing aids, through projects like Solar Ear Brazil, an initiative that creates digital rechargeable hearing aids manufactured, assembled, and distributed by young deaf employees.

Global ENT Outreach has also established cadaver labs in Peru and Cambodia, and is currently working to open one in Zimbabwe.

Brian Scanlan, president of Thieme, shares in Wagner’s enthusiasm. "We’re excited to work with Global ENT Outreach to ensure the proper education of physicians who want to improve the care of those affected by hearing loss," he says.

SOURCE: Thieme Publishers