RealSelf launches “Beyond Scars: Healing Bodies. Restoring Lives,” a global initiative that provides burn survivors access to reconstructive surgery and medical care in India.

Burns are a leading cause of premature death and disability in India, and women and girls suffer burn disabilities and deaths at nearly twice the rate as other women and girls around the globe. Currently, India possesses only seven surgical specialists per 100,000 people and approximately three reconstructive plastic surgeons per 2 million people, according to a media release from RealSelf.

The RealSelf Beyond Scars program partners with ReSurge International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building reconstructive surgical capacity in developing countries. This new program supports medical professionals in India who provide reconstructive surgical care to burn survivors in the region. RealSelf Beyond Scars also sends trained medical teams and volunteers to areas of the country where burn survivors have little access to this critical care.

“RealSelf is proud to launch Beyond Scars and help people access important reconstructive care in these underserved communities,” says RealSelf Founder and CEO Tom Seery, in the release. “We are committed to helping people through the power of our community and our products, and RealSelf Beyond Scars is a natural extension of this commitment to help people build
confidence to realize their full potential no matter where they live in the world.”

“We are thrilled that the RealSelf Beyond Scars program takes a multifaceted approach to addressing the needs of burn survivors in India, both by expanding access to critical surgical care and by giving survivors an opportunity to break free from the stigma of disfiguring scars,” states Jeff Whisenant, president and CEO of ReSurge International. “The RealSelf partnership with ReSurge demonstrates the company’s commitment to its mission. We appreciate their support.”

RealSelf support for Resurge International in India began in 2015. The first volunteer trip was piloted in March 2018 to serve the Helping Hands Center, a medical clinic serving the remote town of Dehradun.

The success of that trip led to the creation of RealSelf Beyond Scars. The program’s second volunteer-led trip to India in December is sponsored, in part, by a generous donation from Delta Air Lines. The December trip will aid Camp Karma,
the subcontinent’s first and only burn camp, in a country where there are more than 1.5 million pediatric burn survivors, the release continues.

Founded in 2013 by Dr Vinita Puri, head of plastic surgery at King Edward Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, Camp Karma focuses on transforming the lives of burn survivors by strengthening children’s ability to mentally, socially, and emotionally recover from their burn injuries and gain the tools they need to move past their scars.

Thrive Causemetics, a luxury cosmetics brand, has also stepped up as a partner for this inaugural program to Camp Karma. Their donation fills a request from the young women of the camp who want make-up lessons to help them further connect with their newfound confidence. Thrive Causemetic’s mission of “beauty with a purpose” and generous giving supports women around the world experiencing a range of challenging issues, from domestic violence to living through cancer treatment, the release concludes.

[Source: RealSelf]