AFG: Projects: Children: Sick
Ear, Nose, and Throat Clinic
Personal Observations from the Executive Director: In 2003, the father of a 9-year- old girl who had become deaf two years earlier from poor treatment of meningitis sent me an email asking for my help. When I visited Georgia later that year, I went to see Dr. Shota Japaridze, who is the girl’s surgeon. Dr. Japaridze is Professor Chairman of the Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic and Dean of the General Medical Faculty of the Tbilisi State Medical University. He explained to me that the child’s treatment for meningitis was too late and inadequate. He also said there is a high rate of pre-lingual deafness and deaf-mutism in Georgia in children under a year old.
Several years ago, Dr. Japaridze went to Europe and the U.S. to be trained in Cochlear Implant Surgery. The implants enable children to hear again. His clinic is the only one in Georgia. Although he performs the surgery without charging, the high cost of the implants ($10,000) means that few Georgian children can have the operation. 40 children are on a waiting list for surgery. I called the manufacturer of the implants who said that their charity rate was $10,000. Dr. Japaridze showed me his 20-year-old Russian made endotrachial unit for general anesthesia which he said makes it difficult to perform surgery on children under five years of age.
AFG Accomplishments: AFG Advisory Board Member Dr. Hugh Robertson located refurbished used general anesthesia machines, which were donated to AFG. In 2005, AFG has:
- Shipped two general anesthesia machines to Dr. Shota Japaridze’s clinic for safer cochlear implant surgery on children
Current Needs: The Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic has many young patients waiting for treatment whose parents cannot afford it. They need:
- Foundation or corporation support to offset costs of cochlear implants so that these children will be able to hear