Rwanda is set to provide 15 scholarships to medical students who want to study plastic surgery, Patrick Ndimubanzi, the Executive Secretary of Rwanda Human Resource for Health Programme (HRH) — an initiative within the ministry of health — has said. We are working on the education curriculum for students who will do the plastic surgery training and we are also planning to get more plastic surgeons to train the students adding on to the two we already have,” Ndimubanzi said. In addition, he disclosed that in August this year the government will receive partners from the American College of Surgeons to discuss the number of plastic surgeons “they can give us. The revelations come in the wake of a dire shortage of plastic surgeons in the country, coupled with the high cost associated with carrying out the surgery. The country has only two plastic surgeons and three plastic surgeon residents. With only five doctors working on plastic reconstructive surgery that involves congenital malformation, defects from trauma that include accidents or burns and cosmetic plastic surgery—the country needs more doctors to ease the workload on the existing ones. The University of Rwanda in collaboration with Operation Smile and The College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) have now teamed up to fix this shortage. The two organised the first Rwanda plastic surgery symposium to discuss solutions. Dr Charles Furaha a plastic surgeon at Rwanda Military Hospital said that he is only able to conduct six to 12 surgeries a week depending on how complex the surgeries are. This, he says is a very low number compared to a waiting list of more than 600 patients. “We do not have the accurate number of patients who need plastic surgery but from some registry of the Ministry of Health between 100 and 150 children are born with defects, and of course, they will have to be put on the waiting list which sometimes leads to death of some patients or others are crippled because their conditions were not treated early,” he told The New Times. Another major challenge that the doctors face especially in rural Rwanda is the prevailing stigma directed towards patients People who suffer from these defects are usually rejected by their peers and family members. “Parents do not know that these are treatable conditions and hence do not seek medical help,” Dr Furaha added. Professor Abebe Bekele, the Country Representative of COSECSA, says that the gap of plastic surgeons can only be bridged through training more medical students and turn them into professionals. COSESCA is a non-profit organisation that offers postgraduate education and surgical training in Rwanda. “We have seen that most training hospitals are based in big cities and the rural communities are left out, we seek to increase these training into district hospitals which will make trainees reach more patients and also try to reduce this gap” he added. Francoise Mukagaju one of the three plastic surgeon residents said that they have been learning a lot from the few resources they have and through Operation Smile they were able to get professional education, medical journals and funding. Andrew Karima the country manager of Operation Smile (OS) in Rwanda told The New Time that: “Our aim is to provide the right care to patients who need plastic surgery and do it at the right time, through the engagement of Community Health Workers (CHWs). The organisation aims to train some 250 CHWs, and through medical students they will enhance recruitment of patients who need plastic surgery.
