Interplast team view more burn victims; they say problem can be avoided.

A team of medical experts from Australia and New Zealand have seen at least 60 patients at the Labasa Hospital.

The team of eight members have been visiting the hospital conducting free general plastic and reconstructive surgical services and training.

One common injury that the team treated were burns.

Interplast Australia and New Zealand team leader, Dr David Ying, said injuries related to burns could be avoided.

He said most of the injuries related to burns here were caused by kerosene stoves.

“Maybe the malfunctioning of this devices and lack of awareness perhaps might contribute to burn accidents,” Dr Ying said.

“During our annual visit to Labasa Hospital we have attended to at least 20 burn cases.

“Some other common cases are hand trauma resulting in disabilities, especially those patients have come forward who had been working in farms or industrial areas.

“The other big group of patients are tumour.”

As of yesterday, they had seen more than 60 patients.

Labasa Rotary Club president, Rajneel Maharaj, said patients with conditions including hypospadias, cleft lip and palate were seen.

“The interplast medical team funded by the Australian government and Rotary Clubs in Australia and New Zealand, have been visiting Fiji since 1983 to provide free surgical intervention programmes to relieve people of disability,” Mr Maharaj said.

“More than 10,000 consultations and 5000 life-changing procedures have been conducted in Fiji.”

Dr Ying has commended the professionalism of the staff at Labasa Hospital. He said his team enjoyed working with them.

“The one thing that is lacking in the hospital is the support structure, mainly the allied health,” Dr Ying said.

“We need more professional therapists such as speech therapist and physiotherapist to assist patients after their surgeries. There are such professionals in Fiji but in limited numbers.”

Edited by Naisa Koroi

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