Medical Missions: Cleft
Lip and Palate Surgery
Cleft
mission treats children in Ramallah
On March 1st, a 3-member team of doctors and
nurses from the USA arrived in the West Bank town of Ramallah
to begin a week of cleft lip and palate surgery on children
born with facial deformities. Led by Dr. Cary Canoun from
San Francisco, the team also included anesthesiologist Dr.
Paul Meyer and OR nurse Amal Jubran. 25 children are scheduled
to have surgery by the team, who will treat several difficult
babies with facial deformities. This mission is also sponsored
by The Smile Train and is part of the PCRF effort to build
a comprehensive cleft program in Palestine. Over 150 children
had surgery in 2007 and many more are scheduled more this
year. All three volunteers have been to Palestine through
the PCRF in the past.
American
Team Treats Cleft cases in Tulkarem
On May 20, 2008, a 5-member American team of
doctors and nurses from the University of North Carolina completed
a week of treating children with cleft lip and palate deformities
at the Thabet Thabet Hospital in the West Bank town of Tulkarem.
Led by Prof. John van Aalst, a surgeon who has led several
past missions to Palestine, the team also included ENT physician
Dr. Austin Rose, dentist Dr. Bilal Saib, recovery nurse Cathy
van Aalst and dental assistant Lindsay Butler. The team treated
nearly two dozen children with a variety of disorders that
cannot be cared for locally, and continued the training of
local surgeons and other medical professionals in Palestine.
Prof. van Aalst is also the head of the Palestinian Cleft
Society, which was created in cooperation with the PCRF and
the Smile Train last December. On May 10th, the 2nd conference
of the Palestinian Cleft Society was held in Ramallah.
Cleft
lip and Palate teams treat children in Ramallah
On December 10, a 4-member team of doctors and nurses arrived
in the West Bank town of Ramallah to start a week long mission
of treating children with cleft lip and palate deformities.
Led by Dr. Mark Ray from Nemours Children's Hospital in Jacksonville,
FLA, the team included OR nurse Paulette Turner, speech and
audio therapist Catherine Swanson and Anesthesiologist Dr.
Bisi Ajala. Dr. Ray has led several surgery missions to Palestine
through the PCRF over the past few years. Over two dozen children
had surgery from this mission.
Cleft
Surgery Mission to Tulkarem
On
January 20, 2007, Dr. John van Aalst from the University of
North Carolina arrived in the West Bank for a week of cleft
lip and palate surgery on children with facial deformities
in Tulkarem. This is Dr. van Aalst's first mission to Palestine
through the PCRF. On January 21, he screened over 40 children
with the PCRF staff from the Tulkarem and Qalqilya areas and
started surgery the following day. His mission is being co-sponsored
with Smile Train, an American charity dedicated to treating
children suffering from cleft lip and palate deformities in
the world.
American
Surgery Mission to Ramallah
On July 14, 2006 a 5-member team of doctors
and nurses traveled to Ramallah for a week of craneofacial
surgery on children with cleft lip and palate deformities.
Led by Dr. Mark Ray, who has led two previous surgery mission
to Ramallah over the past two years, they operated on children
with local surgeons, despite the deterioration of the situation
in Palestine. This was part of an ongoing effort by the PCRF
to treat every child in Palestine with cleft lip and palate
deformities.
European
Cleft Lip and Palate Mission to Hebron
On May 5th, 2005, Dr. Brigitte Winkler, a pediatric surgeon
from Switzerland, and Dr. Maria Hermsen, an anesthesiologist
from Germany, went to the West Bank town of Hebron for a week
of providing children cleft lip and palate operations which
are otherwise not available due to the lack of specialists
in plastic surgery. On May 6th, over 80 children were
screened for surgery, and on Saturday, May 7th, the team started
operating on children born with facial disfigurements.
This was the second mission to Palestine by Dr. Winkler
in the last year, as she also led a mission to Hebron and
Ramallah in December, 2004. The PCRF has brought
several plastic surgery missions to Palestine in the past
few years to address the problem of cleft lip and palate deformities
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Swiss
Surgeon Treats Children in Hebron, Ramallah
On August 29th, 2004 Dr. Brigitte Winkler,
a plastic surgeon from Switzerland, traveled to Palestine
for two weeks of volunteer surgery on children suffering from
cleft lip and cleft palates. Dr. Winkler worked the first
week at the Ahli Hospital in Hebron, where she peformed surgery
on about six children a day. She then went to Ramallah Hospital
on September 4th for anotherr week of surgery. This was the
second mission in 2004 by the PCRF to treat children with
cleft lip and cleft palates in the West Bank. See
cases treated | See
before and after photo
Plastic
Surgeon Treats Babies in Ramallah
On February 21, 2004 Dr. Mark Ray from
Arkansas and Australian nurse Ganene Dowdell came to Ramallah
Hospital in Ramallah to perform cleft lip/cleft palate surgery
that is not available there. This was the first mission to
Palestine for the plastic team, who worked for one week and
performed over 30 surgeries for poor refugee children in the
West Bank.
American/Palestinian
Plastic Surgery Team Arrives
in Lebanon, Treats Refugees
On January 23rd, 2004 Dr. Hisham Ammous, a plastic surgeon
from Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem, traveled to Lebanon
to screen children for plastic surgery at the Haifa Hospital
in the Bourj Al Barajnah refugee camp in Beirut. On January
25, Dr. Jane Petro from New York arrived and together, they
treated close to 50 children with burns, cleft lip and palate,
and other congenital deformities that they otherwise would
not get treatment for locally. This is the third plastic surgery
mission that the PCRF has sent to Lebanon to treat Palestinian
children over the past few years.
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