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Samoa Launches Mobile ENT/Audiology Clinic Service

2021; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 74; Issue: 12 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/01.hj.0000804848.61910.ff

2333-6218

Annette Kaspar, Sione Pifeleti,

Delphi Technique in Research

Samoa is a Polynesian nation of the Pacific Islands. Similar to other countries in the region, ear, nose, and throat (ENT) and audiology services are rare. Where specialist ear and hearing health care is available, accessibility to services is limited for the majority the population who resides in rural/remote areas of the country.ENT Department celebrates procurement of mobile ENT/audiology clinic. From left: Dr. Aleki Faumino is a general surgeon and head of the surgical unit. Dr. Sione Pifeleti is an ENT/general surgeon and acting head of the NT Department. Dr. Take Naseri is CEO Ministry of Health. Ms. Ferila Figao is an ENT registered nurse. Dr. Annette Kaspar is a public health and development research audiologist. photos/courtesy Dr. Annette Kaspar. Mobile audiology, Hearing loss.Samoa World Hearing Day 2021 team photo. Mobile audiology, hearing loss.Samoa World Hearing Day 2020 school students at Manono Island. Mobile audiology, hearing loss.ENT Department celebrates procurement of mobile ENT/audiology clinic. From left: Dr. Aleki Faumino is a general surgeon and head of the surgical unit. Dr. Sione Pifeleti is an ENT/general surgeon and acting head of the NT Department. Dr. Take Naseri is CEO Ministry of Health. Ms. Ferila Figao is an ENT registered nurse. Dr. Annette Kaspar is a public health and development research audiologist. photos/courtesy Dr. Annette Kaspar Samoa World Hearing Day 2021 team photo. Samoa World Hearing Day 2020 school students at Manono Island. To overcome this challenge, the reestablished Samoan ENT Department of the national referral hospital in the capital city, Apia, advocated for the procurement of a mobile ENT/Audiology Clinic—a sound-treated booth trailer with a dedicated vehicle—to enable routine community outreach visits. The Samoan ENT Department currently consists of an ENT/general surgeon, three ENT-registered nurses, and an Australian public health and development research audiologist who has settled in Samoa. The ENT department is also the beneficiary of the Chinese Medical Team Volunteers program and has welcomed four Chinese ENT specialists over the last two years, each of whom has remained for six months and participated in our clinical activities. WORLD HEARING DAY The World Hearing Day theme for 2021 was “Fa’ataua le fa’alogo” (“Hearing Care for All”). A mobile ENT/audiology clinic has long been recognized as a major asset to achieving this goal in Samoa. During our Samoan World Hearing Day celebrations, the ENT department secured the signatures of the following stakeholders for the World Health Organization (WHO) Statement of Support for universal ear and hearing care, as promoted by the WHO 2021 World Report on Hearing: CEO and Director-General of the Government of Samoa Ministry of Health), the Australian High Commissioner to Samoa, the Chinese Ambassador to Samoa, and the Director of the WHO Samoan Office. FROM DREAM TO REALITY The dream of a mobile ENT/audiology clinic for Samoa was finally realized in June 2021. The ENT department is engaged in partnerships with the Global Health Division of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) and the Samoan Disability Partnership Program, both of which are funded by the Government of Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. We especially acknowledge the efforts of ENT surgeon, Associate Professor Bernard Whitfield, and his work through the RACS to coordinating the procurement of the mobile ENT/audiology clinic. Through these partnerships, the Government of Samoa Ministry of Women, Social, and Community Development officially handed over the keys to the mobile ENT/audiology clinic to the Ministry of Health at the launch of their national policies event on June 4, 2021. The keys were received by Leausa Toleafoa and Dr. Take Naseri, the CEO and director-general of the Government of Samoa Ministry of Health. During the Samoan World Hearing Day celebrations of 2020 and 2021, the ENT department performed outreach visits to the rural village of Vaovae, the island village on Manono Island, and the remote district Malietoa Tanumafili II Hospital on the island of Savai’i. All visits were extremely well attended and received. Although formal hearing assessments could not be performed, the significant proportion of attendees required bilateral earwax removal, bilateral aural toileting, and/or medical treatment for ear disease. These procedures alone significantly improved the reported hearing levels, as well as patient satisfaction with their ear health. FURTHER COLLABORATIONS The mobile ENT/audiology clinic will enable such outreach community visits to be performed on a weekly basis. The ENT department is collaborating with the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture to schedule visits to all early childhood education centers and primary schools over the next two years. Discussions are under way with our eye clinic colleagues to integrate school-based ear/hearing and eye/vision screening programs using mobile phone application technologies (i.e., HearX). The ENT/audiology clinic will also target rural/remote/island villages to perform community-based clinical services for people of all ages. One of the most important aspects of the mobile ENT/audiology clinic is that it will facilitate the training and capacity development of primary ear and hearing care skills among our colleagues in rural/remote areas of Samoa. The WHO Primary Ear and Hearing Care Training Package was accredited by the Samoan Qualifications Authority in March 2021, and the mobile ENT/audiology clinic will facilitate the roll-out of this course to all community health workers in Samoa over the next two years. All the above activities will make a significant contribution to the PEN FaaSamoa Initiative, a national health framework policy that aims to improve public and primary health care throughout Samoa. We share our story to encourage similar initiatives in low- and middle-income settings, especially among our Pacific Island neighbours. At the very least, a dedicated mode of transport (vehicle/boat) to enable regular ear health medical visits to rural/remote/island areas should significantly reduce the burden of ear disease and hearing loss among Pacific Islander populations.