Erbil: Swisscross Humanitarian Mission May 2022
Swisscross field officers and Hawler Medical University alumi, Dr Sarezh Saber and Dr Lass Azad at the Centre of Excellence for Complex Care, based at Zheen International Hospital, Erbil, KRI.
Part of our global corps team arrived in Erbil this weekend to begin an intensive ten-day humanitarian mission focussed on patients with head, neck and face trauma and orthopedic surgical needs.
Swisscross CEO, Dr Ian Furst was one of the first surgeons to arrive and hit the ground running. He met with senior leadership at Hawler University Hospital in a bid to strengthen our working relationship with local teaching hospitals and commitment to mentorship and training of young doctors in the region.
We are proud to have two young alumni of Hawler University Hospital as our field officers in Erbil - Dr Sarezh Saber and Dr Lass Azad - who have been instrumental in the groundwork for patient referrals and working with local healthcare providers and NGOs in the region.
Dr Furst and the team also received a tour of the ICRC’s Physical Rehabilitation Centre in Erbil, which is equipped to serve up to 6,000 people with disabilities in Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR).
Meeting with Anna Halford, head of ICRC sub-delegation at the Centre, Dr Furst: “The new Physical Rehabilitation facility is a wonderful resource for those with disabilities.”
Swisscross is providing reconstructive surgery to many patients who need long-term physical rehabilitation to be able to function following their surgeries.
In the coming days, the team will be joined by Swisscross founder, Dr Enrique Steiger, who will focus on some of the serious head, neck and facial trauma patients, including operating on three-year-old Ahmad Burki, who was injured in a missile attack in Syria.
Ahmad, who lost a foot and hand and suffered 60% burns across his body and face has been with us since we opened the Complex Care Centre in September 2021. Today he can walk with the aid of a prosthesis thanks to the generous donations of our supporters. We will continue to care for his other injuries.
Plastic surgeon, Dr Alla Shukur with Ahmad in November 2021.
The team will also be joined by head nurse Kathrin Shultz, who just completed a humanitarian mission in Gaza, Palestine and anesthetist Rolf Woelki who will be arriving from the war in Ukraine.
None of our efforts would be possible without the support and volunteering efforts from our teams globally and the dedicated team of healthcare professionals in Erbil, who have risen to the challenge of rebuilding healthcare locally and restoring hope to thousands of refugees and internally displaced people in Iraq.
We thank UAE Aid for making the vision a reality through their generous support of the first complex care hub in Erbil, Iraq.
