PM meets hearing impaired Nida Khan after her successful surgery

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday was pleased to meet special child Nida Khan, who was born deaf and unable to speak, after her successful surgery which was supported by him.

The prime minister was briefed that Nida Khan will be fully rehabilitated with the assistance of speech therapist within a period of one to two years. He was further informed that Nida is an intelligent child will have a speedy recovery.

PM Sharif had met six-and-half-year-old Nida during the handing over ceremony of school buses to Islamabad schools on January 11, where she greeted and thanked the premier using sign language.

After the event, he enquired about the disability and medical reasons that barred the young girl’s speech, and was informed that she was born with the profound disability to either speak or listen.

PM Sharif directed to set up a public sector Cochlear Implant Centre for treatment of hearing impaired children. Acting on the directives of the prime minister, Executive Director of Capital Hospital constituted a special medical board in February.

The expenses incurred on such treatments are to be borne from the Prime Minister’s Fund as the board is mandated to receive cases from the poor families who cannot afford the costly treatment.

Capital Hospital and Special Education Centre joined together on this initiative and are represented in the special board. The hospital executes the surgical part and implants the device, while the services of audiologist and speech therapist are carried out by the SEC.

Nida Khan underwent surgery on February 22 to embed a Cochlear implant,  a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf.

Her parents who hail from district Mardan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were profoundly grateful to the prime minister for the treatment of their child.