Inauguration of Rwanda’s First Hearing Diagnosis & Rehabilitation Center: Rwandan Officials Praise Lalla Asmaa Foundation’s Contribution to Hearing Healthcare

Kigali – Senior Rwandan officials praised the contribution of the Lalla Asmaa Foundation to hearing healthcare following the inauguration, on Monday at Rwanda Military Referral and Teaching Hospital in Kigali, by HRH Princess Lalla Asmaa, President of the Foundation, and H.E. Jeannette Kagame, First Lady of the Republic of Rwanda, of the country’s first Hearing Diagnosis and Rehabilitation Center, on the sidelines of the launch of the fifth phase of the “United, We Hear Better” program.

In a statement to the press, Rwandan Minister of Health Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana praised the contribution of the Lalla Asmaa Foundation and the partnership between Rwanda and Morocco in hearing healthcare, as demonstrated by this center donated by Her Royal Highness and equipped by the Lalla Asmaa Foundation.

In this regard, he highlighted the continued commitment of HRH Princess Lalla Asmaa, as well as the initiatives undertaken by the Lalla Asmaa Foundation for the benefit of deaf and hard-of-hearing children and those with hearing impairments.

This partnership, built on the excellent relations between the two countries, is expected to be strengthened and expanded to cover other areas of healthcare, particularly through the training of medical personnel, in order to ensure the sustainability of this bilateral cooperation, he said.

According to Nsanzimana, this represents a promising first step toward improving children’s health and developing healthcare skills in Rwanda.

For his part, Colonel Dr. John Bukuru, an ENT specialist and head of the Hearing Diagnosis and Rehabilitation Center, expressed his sincere thanks and deep gratitude to HRH Princess Lalla Asmaa for inaugurating this hospital facility, equipped by the Lalla Asmaa Foundation.

The new center will improve the early detection of hearing loss in infants and promote early interventions, thereby helping provide better hearing rehabilitation prospects for both young patients and adults, he explained.

Organized around the patient care pathway, the center brings together all stages of care, from the initial examination to rehabilitation. Staffed by ENT specialists, audiologists, speech therapists and psychologists, it has been equipped with all the necessary medical equipment, including a soundproof booth, audiometers, infant hearing assessment devices, as well as fitting stations for cochlear implants and hearing aids.

It will enable diagnoses to be established in the first months of life, a critical period for language acquisition, and provide follow-up care for children who have received implants.

At the same time, Rwandan teams received training in the use of all the equipment to ensure the center can operate independently.