THE first child refugees have undergone surgery in a bespoke operating room set up by a Scottish global health charity.
Procedures were carried out on boys aged six and 10 suffering from hernias in the centre erected in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, the world’s largest displaced persons camp, which is home to some 40,000 children.
The operating room is expected to care for up to 1000 children annually, said Edinburgh-headquartered Kids Operating Room (KidsOR).
It will be led by Kenyan paediatric surgeon Neema Kaseje, who said: “There is a huge and desperate need for a paediatric surgery facility at this camp, and in many more camps around the world.
“I am proud that KidsOR have pledged to get children in Kakuma access to the safe surgery they so badly need.
“Usually in these settings you would find there isn’t any equipment for children or infrastructure that is adapted to children, therefore providing surgical services for children in these settings is very difficult.
“It’s great that KidsOR has taken the lead in this area and this could actually serve as a model for other humanitarian contexts beyond Africa.”
More than 3000 parts for the site were designed, sourced and shipped from KidsOR’s Dundee warehouse in December last year, but pandemic delays and the Suez canal blockage caused a hold-up of the life-saving equipment, the charity said.
Garreth Wood, co-founder of KidsOR, said: “This operating room will save and transform the lives of children and their families in desperate and uncertain circumstances.
“I’m proud of the efforts of our teams, in the UK and Africa for making this incredible feat a reality – and I’m delighted that Neema is able to start work so quickly to meet the surgical needs of children in the camp.”
Originally founded in 1992 for people fleeing war in Sudan, Kakuma is now the largest refugee camp in the world with a population of around 190,000 – slightly larger than the population of Dundee – from more than 20 nationalities, said KidsOR.
KidsOR said the Kakuma project will “set the groundwork to build capacity for nine additional children’s operating rooms in the coming years.”
By 2030, it expects to have set up 120 children’s operating rooms across Africa, “providing essential surgery to over 635,000 children and saving thousands of lives”.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here