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There exists a huge need for specialized surgical care for children with severe musculoskeletal deformities in sub-Saharan Africa. Various studies show numbers in the hundreds of thousands. Families of these children cannot get care due to lack of money, distance from a capable hospital and lack of information and/or knowledge. For example, in Tanzania, a country of 70 million, the only hospital with specialized pediatric orthopedic care is polarized to the east- on the Indian Ocean. There is minimal government financial support, transportation is arduous and there is no family housing at the hospital. Families must pay for expensive surgical implants out of pocket. Without this type of complex surgery, children will stay significantly physically handicapped throughout life. Please also see pictures of the deformity types treated.
Our project is to train six fellowship certified pediatric orthopedic surgeons (the only 6 in Tanzania) at Muhimbili Orthopedic Institute (MOI) in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Three of the six were trained in a previous Rotary VTT (GG1864829) in 2017-18. They subsequently established the first pediatric orthopedic training center in Tanzania and have since trained 3 of their own. These six are ready and very willing to receive training in the only specialized effective way to correct severe limb deformities. This requires intensive hands-on training in a technique using ring external fixators ("hexapod frame") to gradually, safely correct these deformities. In January 2027, we plan to send two world expert trainers to Muhimbili Orthopedic Institute (MOI) in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania to train seven surgeons in this technique for a 2 week period.
These trainers (and other visiting volunteers) will also bring the needed surgical hexapod frames, which can be re-used. This will greatly facilitate the ability for families to be able to afford much needed operations. Multiple children are being prepared for surgery. A clearly stated and understood intent of this training project is to "train the trainers", as has been proven effective in the initial VTT project. For this project, we ask for funds to support one visiting trainer (the other is self-funded).
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