USM, KUBANG KERIAN, 4 December 2016 - "The Audiology and Speech Clinic provides an essential service that complements other available services, especially for Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) which has high expertise in various fields," said the Director of the USM Health Campus, Professor Dr. Ahmad Sukari Halim when he launched the facility recently.

According to Ahmad Sukari, the launch of the clinic signifies a combination of services on the campus that is more integrated in terms of offering care at HUSM, along with the teaching expertise which is available at the USM School of Health Sciences (PPSK), and this is important in raising the standards of healthcare offered and academic advancement.

"In view of the increase in the number of patients, and also being a place of referral to those from out of Kelantan, the setting up of this clinic is seen as being truly relevant, and although it is established under PPSK, it is still managed by HUSM.

"In addition, we need the expertise of the lecturers available at PPSK in areas such as audiology and cleft lip among others, as they could contribute and also serve as lecturers for the academic programmes," he said further.

He added that, patients would be receiving care in a more thorough manner, through the support of follow-up observations from the audiology and speech clinic after they have undergone the surgery for cleft lip, ears and other related problems, to allow them to be involved in a more optimised and comprehensive rehabilitation process.

He explained that, parental awareness is truly essential in the treatment of such problems relating to speech and hearing in the early stages of infancy.

"The sharing of knowledge is considered as being truly relevant in this matter; programmes implemented with various communities are also of importance in the effort to spread the message on health and the expertise available at the USM Health Campus, and academicians need to capitalise on this opportunity to assist in the production of their publications," he said.

Also present were Acting Dean, USM School of Health Sciences, Professor Dr. Wan Rosli Wan Ishak and Deputy Dean (Students and Networking), USM School of Medical Sciences, Professor Dr. Din Suhaimi Sidek.

Translation: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin