19.03.2025

Two maternity hospitals and two polyclinics in Almaty — City Maternity Hospital No. 5, City Perinatal Center, City Polyclinic No. 10 and City Polyclinic No. 36 – have been provided with new equipment for in-depth hearing examination of babies. This is now possible thanks to AYALA Charity Foundation with support of Halyk Bank as part of “I Can Hear” pilot project. The new devices allow detecting even hidden hearing disorders in newborns and reduce disability. It is expected that about 62 thousand babies will be examined in Almaty in two years.

«We supported this project because it has direct relevance to improvement of the health of our newborn citizens. Halyk Bank has been actively supporting children’s healthcare projects in cooperation with the AYALA Foundation for a long time. Modern diagnostic equipment has been installed in many medical institutions in Kazakhstan and saves health of newborns every day. We believe that, within the framework of the new project, Almaty doctors will be able to detect timely and treat hearing problems in babies to help their healthy development,« Gulmira Arbabayeva, Head of the PR Department of Halyk Bank, noted.

The pilot project «I Can Hear» is being implemented within the framework of the memorandum of the Department of Public Health of Almaty with AYALA Charity Foundation, with Mercy Voluntary Society Public Fund and SATR Center. In-depth hearing screening in infants and children under three years old was organized in five medical institutions of the city for early detection of congenital problems. The new equipment makes it possible to check the baby’s hearing immediately after birth and detect disorders in the brain stem, which was not possible with the previous generation of devices.

According to surdologists, about 1,400 babies are born with serious hearing impairment or complete deafness every year in Kazakhstan. Currently, the data obtained during hearing examinations in maternity hospitals are recorded manually which affects the follow-up process for tracking the fate of children with identified hearing pathologies.

To eliminate this problem, new diagnostic equipment is connected to a digital tracking center. Nurses of maternity hospitals and clinics have completed special training in working with this equipment. Now the test results are automatically transferred to a single database where doctors can monitor the dynamics and control the quality of examinations on the fourteenth day after the first audiological screening in the maternity hospital as compared to the third month from the birth of the child as it was before. This approach excludes data loss, reduces the likelihood of errors, and enhance diagnostic accuracy.

«Thanks to this project, children at risk receive timely assistance without losing precious months. Children with hearing impairments will have an opportunity to receive hearing aids free of charge at the expense of the city budget. This is an excellent example of cooperation between the state and society, which will benefit thousands of children,» Nazgul Imangalieva, Deputy Head of the Public Health Department of Almaty, emphasized.

For AYALA Charity Foundation, this project is another step towards reducing childhood disability in Kazakhstan. Previously, this foundation and its partners had succeeded in eliminating visual disability in premature infants in just three years almost completely.

«There are more than 110 thousand children with disabilities today in Kazakhstan. This figure is very worrying for us. With the support of Halyk Bank, we have equipped 2 maternity hospitals and 2 clinics with modern equipment for early diagnosis of hidden hearing disorders in newborns. I want to appeal to all parents: please do not miss the hearing examination of your baby in the hospital. The earlier the problem is identified, the more chances to avoid disability and give the child full and productive life,» Aidan Suleimenova, the Founder and President of AYALA Charity Foundation, said.

When hearing problems are identified in a child during in-depth screening, the baby is referred to specialists for additional examination. If necessary, hearing aids will be provided as part of «Give Life to Children» project of DOM Foundation. Hearing aids will be provided at the expense of Compulsory Social Health Insurance at Almaty City Clinical Hospital No. 5.