For 13 days, they will primarily treat burn injuries, congenital facial and limb malformations, trauma, and oncological surgeries.
Madrid, November 13, 2017.- A team from the Spanish Society of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgery (SECPRE) has been in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, since yesterday, where they will remain until November 26th to perform pro bono surgery on patients from underprivileged families. The trip is part of the international humanitarian project organized and funded annually by the aforementioned medical-scientific society in coordination with the organization "Juan Ciudad ONGD," part of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God.
The team is led by Dr. Carlos Laredo, a doctor from the Plastic Surgery Department at the Alicante General University Hospital. He is also accompanied by fellow SECPRE members Francisco Javier GarcĂa Bernal, from the Basurto University Hospital (Bilbao); Javier Regalado, from the IMQ Zorrotzaurre Clinic (Bilbao); and Leopoldo Navarro, from the Vithas Medimar International Hospital in Alicante; and anesthesiologist Juan Fernando GarcĂa Henares, from the Marina Salud Hospital in Denia (Alicante).
During their thirteen-day stay in Monrovia, all of them will work at St. Joseph's Catholic Hospital, one of Liberia's largest hospitals, sadly known for its Ebola epidemic in 2014, when nine staff members died from the disease. The pathologies the Spanish specialists plan to treat include, above all, burn injuries, as well as congenital facial and limb malformations, trauma, and some oncologic surgeries.
Dr. Laredo estimates that approximately 200 patients will be treated: âWe will dedicate the first day to familiarizing ourselves with the facilities, coordinating with local surgeons, and analyzing all the cases in consultation. The following days will alternate between consultations and surgeries, operating on an average of about 20 patients per day. If we expect to see many cases of severe burns, it is because they are very common in developing African countries, given the lack of electricity in many places and the resulting reliance on fire as the main source of energy.â
St. Joseph Hospital consists of the hospital itself, a laundry and recycling area, the homes of the center's top staff, and two houses: one for the Brothers of St. John of God and another for volunteer housing, where the Spanish specialists will reside. The health center features, among other facilities, a 24-hour emergency reception area, a delivery room, a separate surgical suite with a sterilization center, two operating rooms, a post-operative recovery room, locker rooms, and an instrument preparation room.
About SECPRE
The Spanish Society of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgery (SECPRE) is a non-profit association whose purpose is to contribute, through all available means, to the scientific advancement and practical knowledge of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgery, as well as to its scientific dissemination. Its official scientific publication, in conjunction with the Ibero-Latin American Federation of Plastic Surgery, is the journal CirugĂa PlĂĄstica Ibero-Latinoamericana. For more information about the Society, visit www.secpre.org.
About Juan Ciudad NGO
Juan Ciudad ONGD (JCONGD) is a Non-Governmental Development Organization (NGDO) created by the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God (OHSJD) in Spain in 1991, which works in the social and health fields through International Cooperation, for Sustainable Human Development and the defense of Human Rights, with special attention to the right to health, promoting access for all people to social and health care services, with its scope of action being the most disadvantaged regions of the planet. www.juanciudad.org
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