Programa Oir Paraguay

“Oír Paraguay” is Fundación Visión´s otorhinolaryngology program. It became part of Fundación Visión in the year 2004. The main objective of this program is to provide specialized service to low-income patients who cannot access public or private medical coverage in order to find a solution for their hearing impairment.

Under the direction of Dr. Miguel Benitez Ojeda (ear, nose and throat specialist) and the valuable collaboration of Dr. Nelly Martinez Godoy (audiologist), “Oír Paraguay” seems to be the only auditory health program in Paraguay.

The Need
World Health Organization estimates show the worrisome statistic of 280,000,000 people with auditory deficiencies worldwide, in other words, 4.6% of the world population. Of these people, half are children and two-thirds of them live in developing countries.

Currently, the under-14 age group comprises 47% of the population of Paraguay: approximately 2,697,800 children and adolescents.

A research project about the auditory health of public school students done by Dr. Nelly Martinez Godoy in the years 2006 and 2007 indicates that 26.32% of school age children are affected by some type of auditory pathology. Therefore, it is estimated that in Paraguay there are more than 710,000 school-age children with probable auditory disorders.

The Action Plan of Programa Oír Paraguay

1. Community Assistance: Se ofrece a la población los servicios de consulta de Otorrinolaringología, estudios audiológicos como auxiliares en diagnóstico y Cirugías Especializadas en Asunción y en otros cinco puntos del interior: Santa Rosa del Aguaray, Santani, Guarambaré, Coronel Oviedo y Ciudad del Este.

2. Adaptation to Auditory Prosthesis: is the only way for patients with neurosensory hearing loss to recover their hearing. On the local market, the price of these prostheses is between 500 (five hundred) and 2,000 (two thousand) American dollars.

3. Hearing Tests for Children Enrolled in Public Schools:: During the next three years, 1,230 no-cost hearing tests will be administered to public school children from low-income families. If hearing or ear pathologies are detected, the patients are invited to enroll in the program so that a medical solution to their ailments can be found. These tests will be useful to us in order to establish a baseline for ear pathologies in the school-age population in light of the fact that the country lacks official statistics about this phenomenon.

4. Hearing screening: has been taking place since September, 2008 in 4 public hospitals: Itauguá, Materno Infantil de San Lorenzo, San Pablo y Cruz Roja. To date, more than 1,200 newborns have been screened. This is the only newborn screening program operating in Paraguay. The results will be presented to the Ministry of Public Health, the World Health Organization, and the general population towards the end of September, 2009.

Your support will be invaluable!
A Free Field Audiometer is used to more closely monitor patients’ adaptations to hearing aids. The cost of this instrument on the local market ranges from 7,000 (seven thousand) to 10,000 (ten thousand) American dollars. We, at the Oír Paraguay Program are searching for an organization with a feeling of social responsibility to lend us a hand with the acquisition of the above-mentioned equipment.

Beneficiaries of the Program as of April, 2008
Appointments: 5.176
Audiometers: 1.483
Surgeries: 130
Hearing Aids: 164