JULY 2008
VOLUME 5 NO. 7

PATIENTS & PRACTICE

'Surgical safaris' a waste: MD

New group will teach CHD care overseas


Dr Christo Tchervenkov wants to change the way the world thinks about international medical aid.

The short overseas surgery missions — he calls them "surgical safaris" — that Canadian and other Western doctors undertake are "resources wasted," says the Montreal pediatric cardiovascular surgeon. So last month Dr Tchervenkov convened pediatric cardiology organizations from around the world in Montreal to establish the ambitious new World Federation for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease.

The federation will focus on replacing current strategies to treat CHD patients in developing countries — which usually involve flying them to Western hospitals or sending Western surgeons in to perform a handful of operations — with cardiology training for local physicians.

"[The current strategies] help a few dozen kids, when the same resources in education could help hundreds of thousands of kids," he says. "We need to focus on how to deliver knowledge to areas in need of science and knowledge. We could actually set the example around the world on other diseases."

 

 

back to top of page

 

 

 

 
 
© Parkhurst Publishing Privacy Statement
Legal Terms of Use
Site created by Spin Design T.