Plastic Surgery in Developing Countries ! (?)

The Plastic Surgery in Germany is mistakenly placed on a par with the so-called beauty-surgery and thus belongs primarily in the realm of the affluent societies than into the realm of the Developing Countries. But this is an erroneous assumption.

INTERPLAST is a merger of Plastic Surgeons, Jaw-Face-Surgeons, Anaesthetists and Nurses within these disciplines whoes aim it is to operate on children and grown-ups in Developing Countries in their spare time - free of charge. They deal here with patients with congenital distortions in the face, at their hands and their feet. The removal of or relief from extreme distortions and scares after burnings and injuries, but also good and benign tumours on the surface of the body count to their tasks. In many Developing Countries infectious tropical diseases leave terrible defects in the face and on the body, for example Lepra and the Noma.
The reconstruction of these defects needs all the knowledge and skill of the Plastic Surgery. The people that suffer from these distortions do not have the least chance in their Countries to receive an adequate treatment. There are many medical as well as social reasons for this.

Interplast's mission is to provide free reconstructive surgery for people in developing nations, and to help improve health care worldwide. The organization's goals are to establish, develop, and maintain host-country, domestic-patient, and educational programs with the following objectives:

Provide direct patient care -- reconstructive surgery and ancillary services to those with no other resources.
Provide educational training and medical interchange.
Assist host-country medical colleagues toward medical independence.
Enable recipients of care to become providers of care to new sites.

Interplast maintains no political or religious affiliations.
Sensitivity to, and respect for, other cultures as equals pervades the Interplast philosophy and deeply influences the manner in which we conduct ourselves as ambassadors.

Interplast was founded in 1969 in the USA by Dr. Donald R. Laub, who was then Chief of Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery at Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, California.

INTERPLAST GERMANY, which was founded in 1978 as a national chapter of Interplast, yearly sends around 25 complete operating-teams from all over Germany with the necessary equipment, materials and medicine in all parts of the world.
In each of these missions approximately 80 to 160 patients within 2 or 3 weeks are operated. In very extreme cases INTERPLAST organizes and finances a treatment in Germany itself.

Beyond the immediate medical help for the affected population another goal will be in each mission to offer medical educational training for native doctors and nurses. Through integration into the operating- and treatment-program they will be enabled to establish that what here in Germany is operation standard. A further smaller task of INTERPLAST is to arrange scholarships in Germany as well as financial support for hospitals in the Developing Countries.

All INTERPLAST-missions and activities are financed solely through donations and the voluntary unpaid work of the members in the different section.
 

INTERPLAST

Section Hattingen/Ruhrgebiet

The INTERPLAST-missions are organized and carried out by the nine sections distributed all over Germany.

1993 the section Hattingen/Ruhrgebiet was founded by doctors from the Ev. Krankenhaus Hattingen gGmbH with nowadays members in all of Northrhine/Westfalia. The section Hattingen/Ruhrgebiet meanwhile carried out 15 missions in Latin-America, in Africa, in South-East-Asia and on the Indian continent and has operated upon 1000 children. In the same time over 20 children could be treated in Hattingen with great expenditure and support of the Ev. Krankenhaus gGmbH. Many children of Developing Countries could be brought for treatment into other hospitals in NRW.
Hospitals in Nepal, Brazil and Eritrea were also financially supported.
 
 

Pro-INTERPLAST

Hattingen/Ruhrgebiet

In order to support financially the activities of the section Hattingen/Ruhrgebiet active members of the section and sponsors founded "Pro-INTERPLAST Hattingen/Ruhrgebiet e. V.". The statutes of the organisation oblige the members to only use the donations for the developing of Plastic and Restoration Surgery in the Developing Countries.
The organisation is registered with the City of Hattingen. The tax office of Hattingen has recognized the association as charitable organisation.

Everybody can become a member by filling out an application form if the person does not want to get involved actively in the missions and only wants to support the aims of the organisation.
Constant news inform about the activities of the organisation.

Should you be interested in a membership and would like to support the goals of the organisation, please contact us to get the our coupon and to send it back to the local section of the organisation. In return you will receive the statutes, the current information and an invitation to the membership-meeting.