By Iftikher Mahmood, MD | President
I have returned from my trip to Bangladesh in December 2010 for a medical mission with Nova Southeastern University medical students and physicians. This mission was planned to help the students learn about medical care in Bangladesh and to provide medical services to the poor at health camps in our hospitals and clinics in Bangladesh.
During the mission, the students and other volunteers gained a good perspective in tropical medicine, the differences between medical care for the rich and the poor in a developing country such as Bangladesh. They saw how the rich can get world class medicine in the main cities (at comparable prices to the West) and how the poor suffered from lack of access to any kind of healthcare in remote villages.
The disparity was shocking to the students.
While in Bangladesh, I managed to get to see some of the children who had cleft surgeries in November last year. They still come to the hospital for follow-up, as some kinds of clefts require therapy to improve feeding and improve speech problems. Some of the poor people in the area had not realized that their children's clefts could be completely healed and now the awareness of this surgery has blossomed. Due to this increase in awareness, and ongoing educational activities carried out by the hospital, the plan for this year is to complete 60 surgeries in one week.
I wish to thank all those who donated last year to our first ever cleft mission, and welcome our new donors who are helping to change the life of a child this year.
Sincerely,
Iftikher Mahmood
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