Princess Lalla Asmaa, President of the Lalla Asmaa Foundation, visited the National Center of Rehabilitation and Neurosciences (Centre National de Réhabilitation et de Neurosciences – CNRNS) in Rabat on Thursday, October 15, 2026, to meet young patients from Morocco and children from Panama who recently received cochlear implants.
Over 1,100 Moroccans have now benefited from these implants free of charge, thanks to the Foundation’s NASMAA program.
NASMAA program, stemming from the drive of King Mohammed VI, who has made the inclusion of people with disabilities and universal access to healthcare a steadfast commitment of the Kingdom, owes its progress to the ongoing involvement of Princess Lalla Asmaa, the Foundation said in a statement.
The Princess visited 10 of these children, 5 from Morocco and 5 from Panama, who underwent surgery in recent days, accompanied by their families.
Fully covered by the Foundation, from the implant to rehabilitation, the surgeries were performed under the medical direction of Prof. Abdelaziz Raji, head of the ENT department at the Mohammed VI University Hospital Center (CHU) of Marrakech, alongside Brigadier General Dr. Fouad Benariba, and other Professors.
The implant directly stimulates the auditory nerve, after which long-term speech therapy trains the brain to recognize sounds.
Moroccan Expertise Crosses the Atlantic
The children from Panama are following the exact same protocol as their roommates: assessment, surgery, implant activation, and rehabilitation, the statement noted, highlighting that Panama has become the 22nd country to join the NASMAA program, and the 2nd in Latin America after El Salvador.
Panama’s Ambassador to Morocco Isbeth Quiel Murcia, who accompanied the Princess during the visit of the Panamaean patients expressed the thanks and deep gratitude of Panama’s First Lady, Maricel Cohen de Mulino, to Princess Lalla Asmaa and the Lalla Asmaa Foundation, following the cochlear implant surgeries to the benefit of Panamanian children as part of the international program “Together, We Hear Each Other Better.”
In a statement to the press Quiel Murcia highlighted the strong cooperation between Morocco and Panama, which is tangibly demonstrated through the support and assistance provided to these Panamanian children.
Thanks to these implants, these Panamanian children can look forward to a better life, she said, expressing the hope that cooperation in this area would be further deepened and extended to other fields.
For their part, mothers of Panamanian children who received these implants expressed their deep gratitude to Princess Lalla Asmaa and the Lalla Asmaa Foundation for helping achieve their dream: to see their children recover the gift of hearing and communicate with them.
Moroccan expertise is based on a model developed step by step in Morocco, extending to the inclusive schools in Rabat, Tangier, and Meknes. This unique model has made it possible to share the Kingdom’s expertise and experience with sister nations in various regions of the world.
In Africa, only 10% of the 33 million people in need have access to a hearing aid. Yet, every dollar invested in hearing care yields a return of $16, according to the WHO. To address this challenge, Morocco, through the Foundation, has established a complete care network, ranging from neonatal screening launched in 2023 to long-term patient follow-up.
