Afghanistan

Farzana, left, at the Herat burn hospital with her mother. She set herself on fire when her father-in-law belittled her. Farzana, left, at the Herat burn hospital with her mother. She set herself on fire when her father-in-law belittled her.

 

 

 

 

History

Afghanistan is a country of 29 million people with over 30 years of continuous war and devastation.  Of those 29 million, there are only 2 self-trained plastic surgeons who are practicing in the capital of Kabul.  Afghanistan ranks as the least developed country in the eastern hemisphere and in need of serious infrastructure and health service development.

Mission: Restore has a vision of bringing much needed clinical care, education and research to the “forgotten patients” of Afghanistan. Mission: Restore traveled to Kabul in November, 2011 to establish a partnership with Cure International to assist women and children who desperately need our help. Please see the media clips below to learn more about the mission.

Mission: Restore’s role and responsibilities

Cure International and Mission: Restore will work together with the Afghan Ministry of Public Health to provide high level Plastic Surgical Services at the Cure Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan.

A hospital ward of the Cure Hospital in Kabul will be dedicated to Plastic Surgical Services and will be tasked with providing the following services:

Complex Reconstructive cases
All cases that are screened by Cure Kabul Plastic Surgery service and deemed “too complex” to be performed will be referred to the Mission: Restore team by skype or email for consultation.  These cases will then be assigned to a Mission: Restore team based on the level of sub-specialization:

  • Craniosynostosis
  • Large Palatal Fistulas
  • Massive facial defects
  • Large facial tumors
  • Breast Cancers requires autologous reconstruction
  • Complex hand trauma
  • Multilevel burn contractures
  •  Congenital hand malformations
  • Abdominal reconstructions
  • Post-traumatic extremity defects
  • Any cases possibly requiring microsurgical intervention

If the local team does not feel ready to address the case, the patient will be asked to return when a Mission: Restore team will next visit the Cure Kabul center.

Education
Mission: Restore will provide the training curriculum for training in the field of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in Afghanistan.

  • Mission: Restore will provide the training curriculum for plastic surgery that has been created and implemented by Long Island Plastic Surgical Group on a 3 year cycle
  • The plastic surgery fellows in Kabul will be able to connect with the Mission: Restore educational seminars every week live via Skype where they will observe the actual educational discourse and dialogue of the American residents via the Nassau University Medical Center
  • The Afghan Fellows will have the opportunity to present challenging cases and seek the opinion of over 10 American Surgical Attending physicians during these educational sessions
  • The Afghan fellows will be required to take a national Plastic Surgery exam once a year and will be scored on a competitive basis to make sure they have knowledge of the entire spectrum of plastic surgery

Mission: Restore will provide a one month fellowship for one local plastic surgery fellow per year to come and spend time with the 16 plastic surgeons of Long Island Plastic Surgical Group and be part of the entire training program.

Research
Mission: Restore has a deep interest in providing research on the restoration of form and function to the  “forgotten patients of the world” including:

  • Acid Burns whether self-induced or in domestic disputes
  • Sexually traumatic defects such as vaginal mutilation
  • War related deformities such as IED or land mine explosions
  • Soft tissue necrotic diseases caused by infections such as TB

Mission: Restore will perform many complex reconstructive surgeries on these patients to better learn how to perform a high level reconstruction and help improve outcomes.

Mission: Restore will also collect the work of local Afghan surgeons and present and publish this work in collaboration with the US surgeons so that they can obtain experience and recognition in plastic surgical meetings worldwide.

Media

Dr. Kaveh Alizadeh discusses his work to help those in need in Afghanistan.
Mission Rescue | Video – ABC News

American plastic surgeon Kaveh Alizadeh looks at a birth defect on an Afghanistan child
American Plastic Surgeon Sets Up Program to Help Afghans