Global health non-profit organisation Mission Restore recently trained over 55 surgeons from African countries to perform reconstructive surgeries and to offer post-operative healthcare.
Doctors from Kenya, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Burundi and Ethiopia benefited from the training at the Coast Provincial General Hospital in Mombasa.
Mission Restore executive director Karina Nagin said surgery is one of the most overlooked key component of a strong health system in the world, and that Africa faces a shortage of specialists, yet 30 per cent of health cases require surgical intervention.
“Kenya is better off than some other African countries, but there is need for more surgeons who can do reconstructive surgery because there has been a rapid increase in traumatic injuries, yet there are no specialists to treat the patients,” Ms Nagin said.
The surgeons were taught how to correct general defects, cleft lip and palates, and injuries from accidents and burns. More than 10 children benefitted from surgery during the training.
“We taught them the latest advances in surgical care and took them through the entire spectrum of surgical procedures so that they have the capacity to train themselves, perform more complex surgeries and teach others to do the same,” said Dr Kaveh Alizadeh, the lead surgeon and founder of Mission Restore.
The trainers took into account that some of the doctors come from countries where hospitals lack advanced equipment, and taught them to operate with the realities of the hospitals they work in.
