Posted by David Owen
on Dec 10, 2015
Interplast …Repairing Bodies…Rebuilding Lives in the Asia Pacific Region
Above, a typical welcoming group with a banner that tells it all.
The club welcomed Di Gillies as guest speaker for the day on the above topic. Di has a superlative record of community participation in our area. As Chairman Noel Halford noted she has been a long-time friend/supporter in relation to the annual Christmas Boroondara function (topical at the moment). With stints on local school (primary & secondary) committees as president and current board membership of the Boroondara Care Foundation, a Balwyn Rotarian, and heavy involvement in the Women in Rotary group among other things, one wonders how she has the time to be the prime Rotary link to Interplast.
Still she is the current Rotarian Coordinator for Interplast. Di explained how in 1983, a joint project between then District Rotary District 980 and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Interplast Australia, was established to provide voluntary medical teams to carry out plastic and reconstructive surgery in developing countries.
In effect a partnership involving Rotary , Rotarians are equal members of the Company, have equal representation on the Board of Directors and form the Rotarian Committee, which advises the Executive and Board on Rotary matters. Since 1983, Rotarians have raised significant funds to support Interplast in repairing bodies and rebuilding lives. Over 70 Rotarians have accompanied teams as observers and have returned to act as ambassadors of Interplast by spreading the word.
Continuing to this day volunteer surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses and allied health professionals work in 17 countries across the Asia Pacific. They are plastic surgery focussed, but aim to restore functionality to patients rather than provide cosmetic surgery and by so doing they have changed lives by performing reconstructive surgery to repair acquired or congenital conditions. Common issues which they encounter are serious deformities involving cleft palates and burn contractions being the aftermath of serious burns where the tissue heals but in a way that deforms limbs.
The volunteer teams (last year there were 58 excursions) provide the medical work but more, promote a mentor/training aspect too for local health workers. Funding from various sources including Rotary, Government and corporate donations is utilised to provide equipment, travel and accommodation costs. There is no shortage of medical workers willing to provide free service and typically one team heads off every week.
A visit is planned some months in advance and locals have identified patients for treatment but still on that first day there are long queues of people awaiting evaluation for treatment.
The scope of Interplast is highlighted by the following statistics. It has worked in 25 countries and implemented over 600 surgical and allied health medical program activities across the Asia Pacific region performing over 21,000 life-changing operations.
Di gave us a glimpse of the treatments, with many examples of heart-warming images of the before and after outcomes of many patients. Thanks for a wonderful address.
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