Neurosurgery Mission to Tanzania
Neurosurgical Missions in Tanzania
Neurosurgical diseases have a dramatic impact on society and on economic conditions in developing countries but, unfortunately, are not on the radar screen of governmental or private health or support organizations. In East Africa traumatic brain injuries, congenital malformations, and infections of the central nervous system affect children and the most productive part of society, and are currently not treated effectively. In East Africa there is currently one neurosurgeon per 9 million people, while in the US the ratio is 1: 62,500.
Our mission is to provide medical training and education to physicians and other medical personnel in Tanzania in order to create independent, self-propagating, and sustainable medical care. We believe that aid without training creates dependence whereas training and education offer independence and dignity. We hope to achieve this by training surgeons at Bugando Hospital that can provide primary and emergency neurosurgical care with a focus on neurotrauma, birth defects, and congenital disorders and infection of the central nervous system.
What have we done so far?
- Training of local surgeons: local orthopedic and neurosurgical surgeons have been trained in spinal instrumentation surgery and craniotomies for trauma. Independently, they have continued to perform these procedures successfully.
- Donation of surgical and medical equipment: spinal instrumentation worth approximately $1million was donated by instrumentation companies. Other surgical tools and instruments have been donated and were shipped in a container to Bugando in 2009.
Read more about our missions below!
Neurosurgery Mission to Dar es Salaam and Bugando, 2011 (Part 2)
Following our stay in Dar Es Salaam, a team comprised of three neurosurgical attendings, two neurosurgical residents, two attending anesthesiologists, a nurse anesthetist and OR nurse from the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona and Weill Cornell Hospital, New York, traveled to Mwanza on Lake Victoria to continue the mission to build a self-sufficient neurosurgical practice at Bugando Hospital.
Neurosurgery Mission to Dar es Salaam and Bugando, 2011 (Part 1)
In January 2011, neurosurgeons from around the world participated in the 2nd annual African Federation of Neurological Surgeons meeting held in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. The program was started to share current management and surgical techniques with practicing surgeons in East Africa. More than 50 neurosurgeons, neurosurgical residents and neurological nurses from throughout the region attended.
Neurosurgery Mission to Bugando, May 2010
While the visit in 2009 was meant to assess the neurosurgical needs and capabilities at Bugando, this year's mission had the goal of responding to those specific needs by starting a long-term commitment to help the medical staff at Bugando cope with their tremendous task of treating neurosurgical diseases.
On the Road: Tanzania Humanitarian Mission, September 2009
Dr. Hartl and his team are carrying out another exciting humanitarian mission to Africa. The program has the potential to greatly upgrade the way developing countries deliver health care. Working through Madaktari Africa Dr. Hartl explains, "We are doing hands-on training of doctors in Eastern Africa, empowering them with a high level of expertise in neurosurgical procedures."
Contact
Weill Cornell Medical College
Center for Global Health
440 E. 69th Street
New York, NY 10021
phone: 212-746-6680
fax: 212-746-9744
e-mail: globalhealthweb@med.cornell.edu
Web Manager/Editor: Lindsey Reif
