(openPR) - New York/Stuttgart – According to the World Health Organization, 80 percent of hearing impaired and deaf people live in low and middle-income countries, and 278 million people worldwide are estimated to have “moderate to profound hearing loss in both ears.” Global ENT Outreach, with the help of otology books provided by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., is working to improve the treatment options available for people affected by hearing-related disorders.

Thieme has regularly donated books over the last ten years such as Otology, Neurotology, and Lateral Skull Base Surgery: An Illustrated Handbook (Krings, 2011), Middle Ear and Mastoid Microsurgery (Sanna, 2003), and Audiology Answers for Otolaryngologist (Valente, 2011), to ensure that the trainees have the latest and most comprehensive information available to perform the range of hearing-related procedures.

“The books have been super helpful. [Thieme Publishers] has been supportive of our work for at least five years now,” says Richard Wagner, MD, Director of Global ENT Outreach.

With training programs in countries such as Ecuador, Peru, El Salvador, Cambodia and American Samoa, Global ENT Outreach provides the facilities and resources to train future otologists to better serve their communities. The organization also seeks to provide access to affordable medical equipment, like hearing aids, through projects like Solar Ear Brazil – an initiative that creates digital rechargeable hearing aids manufactured, assembled and distributed by young deaf employees.

Global ENT Outreach has also established cadaver labs in Peru, Cambodia and is currently working to open one in Zimbabwe. “Ear surgeons must be trained in a cadaver setting, with cadaver bones to improve skills....We take the donations [Thieme] gives us and leave them in the labs so that doctors can use them,” Wagner says.
 
“I think we’re different than most programs because we’re trying to promote education and sustainability. We’re trying to empower [the local physicians-in-training] with resources and infrastructure to advance them through education,” Wagner says.

Brian Scanlan, president of Thieme, shares in Wagner’s enthusiasm. “We’re excited to work with Global ENT Outreach to ensure the proper education of physicians who want to improve the care of those affected by hearing loss,” he says.

About Thieme

Thieme Publishing Group is a scientific and medical publishing house employing more than 950 people and maintaining offices in seven cities, including New York, Delhi, Stuttgart and three other locations in Germany. Founded in 1886, the Thieme name has become synonymous with high quality and excellence in medical and scientific publishing. Today, Thieme is the market leading publisher of neurosurgical content and holds strong market positions in orthopedics, radiology, anatomy and chemistry, among other specialties. Thieme publishes 137 peer-reviewed journals and over 500 new books annually. The company also has a rapidly growing array of web-based products in medicine and science. State-of-the-art online products include Thieme eJournals, Thieme Electronic Book Library, the medical student website WinkingSkull.com and Thieme Teaching Assistant, an innovative web-based platform for faculty. For more information about Thieme, please visit thieme.com.

Contact

Bettina Ziegler
Public Relations and Press Office
Thieme Publishing Group
Ruedigerstrasse 14
70469 Stuttgart
Germany
Tel: +49-711-8931-319
Fax: +49-711-8931-167
bettina.ziegler (at) thieme.de