Ethiopia faces an enormous shortage of surgeons to meet the needs of its 121 million population. Surgical care interventions are poor, especially in rural areas and particularly for complex facial reconstructive plastic surgery.
The surgical wait list in Addis Ababa alone is 15,000 patients.
The Foundation’s first mission to Addis Ababa was in October 2019 and was led by Dr. Marco Caminiti, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon and Associate Professor at the University of Toronto. Subsequently, there have been annual missions with teams of 6 to 10 members continuing this work at Tikur Anbessa (Black Lion Hospital).
The Foundation worked in conjunction with the University of Addis Ababa with a focus on Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeries (OMFS) – essentially congenital, traumatic and cancer deformities of the face and jaw. An important part of the mission, as with all of our missions, is the improvement of health care capacity through teaching of local medical doctors, surgeons, and nurses. Our team will increase as further needs are identified and capabilities permit.
Number of Procedures/Operations:
16
Number of Patients Consulted:
45
Size of Mission:
4 surgeons
Conditions Treated:
Excision and complex reconstruction of major bony and swift tissue facial tumours, facial paralysis, cleft lip, facial traumatic injuries, congenital jaw deformities.