Swisscross Team Vow to Stay On Despite Erbil Missile Attack.

PRESS RELEASE

ERBIL/ZÜRICH – MARCH 14, 2022

Swisscross volunteer surgeons and healthcare workers continue to operate on patients in Erbil.

THE SWISSCROSS CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE IN COMPLEX CARE, A HUMANITARIAN PROGRAM IN RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY IN ERBIL, IRAQ WILL CONTINUE IN ITS MISSION TO PROVIDE CARE TO REFUGEES AND VULNERABLE POPULATIONS DESPITE BALLISTIC MISSILES STRIKING THE CITY YESTERDAY

Dr Enrique Steiger, Swisscross Founder and veteran war surgeon said: “We are staying in Erbil. Our teams are committed to provide care to the most vulnerable people caught in conflict. We are here to complete that mission.”

A global team of Swisscross medics working with local healthcare professionals began this the fifth and sixth mission in Erbil over a week ago, to provide orthopedic and plastic reconstructive surgeries to patients suffering from debilitating injuries as a result of war and to train committed and talented young local surgeons to deal with complex surgery.

With four days left until the end of the mission, the entire team said they would continue as planned and complete the critical surgeries on patients, some as young as three years-old.

Despite a volley of missiles hitting the city in the early hours of Sunday morning, the Swisscross teams completed three complex procedures and will conclude 18 upcoming surgeries in the next four days.

The Swisscross Foundation – a Swiss-based humanitarian non-profit NGO - has received thousands of patient referrals to treat debilitating and neglected injuries for people affected by war wounds, since opening the program in September 2021. 

Housed at Zheen International Hospital in Erbil and generously supported by Swisscross partner, UAE Aid, the program mobilizes volunteer specialist surgeons and medical professionals from around the world to deal with some of the most challenging wounds in healthcare.

To learn more and help us continue providing humanitarian surgery please donate here.