Vietnam News Network

“Hearing impaired people in HCM City as well as the southern provinces can access the advanced technology, Cochlear’s Nucleus Freedom, at costs twice as low compared to getting the implants done abroad,” said Dr Pham Khanh Phong Lan, deputy director of the HCM City Department of Health.

The costs are expected to be even lower in the future so that the advanced technology will not be limited to people with high incomes, Lan said.

The Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital in HCM City has performed surgeries using the Australian – invented Cochlear Nucleus Implant system on nine patients since it was first applied in the hospital last year, said Dr Nguyen Thi Ngoc Dung, director of the hospital.

Over the last 30 years, some 140,000 patients around the world have benefited from the Cochlear Nucleus Implant system, which holds 70 percent of the global market for hearing implants.