Restoring dignity and confidence

Operation Sourire in Mongolia, from 29th January to 6th February 2010

Hospital for burn victims in Ulaan Baatar.

Mongolia currently has insufficient facilities to care for patients suffering from third-degree burns. Médecins du Monde teams travel to the country twice a year, where they spend ten days in Ulan Bator providing care, and, more importantly, training for medical staff on how to handle these much-overlooked cases.

Household accidents and burns are very common in Mongolia: a lot of families live in yurts where the stove used both to cook and to heat the home is exposed at ground level.

The after-effects of these accidents often require a number of operations and significant rehabilitation, chiefly designed to help patients recover the use of their limbs or of the part of the body affected by burns.

Médecins du Monde teams focus on training local medical personnel, crucial in ensuring the long-term success of their mission, which hinges on passing on know-how and sharing experience. Surgeons in Mongolia are now learning increasingly sophisticated techniques and the younger generation is steadily stealing the thunder of older colleagues who trained under the Russian system.

The project also includes two rehabilitation specialists, who play a crucial role, since in the case of reconstructive surgery, and especially in the treatment of serious burns, the operation itself loses its effectiveness without the right post-operative care.

For more information < href="'/_en/_ww/html/philnatropy/docs/Operation-Sourire-mission-to-Mongolia-Travel-Journal.pdf" target="blank">download the project report.

COPYRIGHT : Flora Baré Médecins du Monde teams focus on training local medical personnel, crucial in ensuring the long-term success of their mission, which hinges on passing on know-how and sharing experience. Surgeons in Mongolia are now learning increasingly sophisticated techniques and the younger generation is steadily stealing the thunder of older colleagues who trained under the Russian system.

The project also includes two rehabilitation specialists, who play a crucial role, since in the case of reconstructive surgery, and especially in the treatment of serious burns, the operation itself loses its effectiveness without the right post-operative care.

For more information download the project report

COPYRIGHT : Flora Baré