For over 30 years Czesław Czapliński has taken photographs of the most famous people in the wold of business, culture, politics, sport (e.g. Leonard Bernstein, Oscar de la Renta, Catherine Deneuve, Placido Domingo, Umberto Eco). From several seasons he has also held open meetings under “Artists in the Baths”. Indeed, the meetings take place in the Royal Baths in Warsaw. His guests were i.a. Wiesław Ochman, professor Marek Kwiatkowski, Beata Tyszkiewicz. Professor Henryk Skarżyński was invited for the meeting due to his achievements in the field of otosurgery and organization of the 1st International Music Festival for Children, Youths and Adults with Hearing Disorders ‘Beats of Cochlea’. During the meeting on the 1st October 2015, prof. Skarzynski recounted the history of the World Hearing Centre, the Polish school in the world medicine and work that resulted in great success.
Polish patients as the first ones or one of the first ones in the world have access to modern medical technologies and methods of hearing treatment, said professor Skarżyński. People treated in Kajetany appreciate the highest quality of medical care. Surveys conducted each year among the patients of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing prove that over 65 percent of patients are people who were encouraged to visit Kajetany by former or present patients of the World Hearing Centre.
So far over 4.5 thousands patients were implanted in the Institute. Specialists perform about 18 thousands surgical procedures yearly. This number is impressive – to compare, big centres in the world perform about 1.5 thousands procedures a year. The demand for the treatment of more and more popular hearing disorders is immense. About 20 thousands patients wait for a visit in Kajetany, including 1.5 thousands people waiting for implant surgery.
Implantation isn’t a cheap surgery, however, patients shouldn’t treat their operation as an expense. It is investment in health, said professor Henryk Skarżyński. People with severe hearing disorders often are not self-reliant. They require not only medical but also social care. Moreover, hearing problems increase the risk of depression. Only slight hearing disorder doubles the risk of depression, and the risk grows four times when the hearing loss is profound. Proper treatment to restore the ability of communication significantly minimalizes the risk of depression and many other related diseases. Therefore, it cuts the costs of their treatment, and – what is even more important – improve the quality of life. Early implant surgery in children ensures normal development and education, also in music schools. Senior people (75% of older people suffer from hearing loss), on the other hand, can earn a better living.
“I don’t want to complain that the main problem in medical service is money”, said professor Skarżyński referring to funding medical procedures. “We can afford much more or much less. The important thing is that funding should be foreseen. If so, patient who wait in a queue to the hospital wouldn’t be kept in suspense.
During the meeting in the White Cottage in the Royal Baths, professor Henryk Skarżyński also talked about success. ”If a person treats a job as something special, he or she can be happy with small achievements”, he said. “Having performed 20 successful operations daily, I cannot complain that I’m tired. I prefer to say that I achieved 20 successes, and this made me little tired”.