Media inquiries: (804) 924-5679

U.VA. TEAM PROVIDES MEDICAL AID IN RURAL INDIA

On January 21, a University of Virginia-led team of 16 health care providers will travel to rural India to provide free medical care. The delegation, part of the Virginia Children's Connection, will offer basic plastic surgery as well as some dentistry services. The clinicians making the trip are primarily from the University of Virginia Health System but also include physicians from Martha Jefferson Hospital and the Shenandoah Valley area.

This part of India is extremely medically underserved, said Dr. Thomas J. Gampper, assistant professor of plastic surgery at U.Va. and the leader of this year's trip. Without our visits, it is unlikely that the patients we see would ever have an opportunity to receive treatment from a plastic surgeon. The last time we visited, we operated on approximately 150 patients, and we expect that number to be higher this time.

The group will work from a hospital in Giridih, India, a town of about 100,000 outside of Calcutta. The connection between U.Va. Health System and Giridih was formed in 1989 when a resident, whose in-laws were missionaries there, brought the idea to physicians in the plastic surgery department. Since that first visit, which included four health care providers, the department has led three subsequent trips.

This year the group of 16 will spend seven days seeing patients and performing surgery. While the physicians and nurses see patients of all ages, the focus is on serving children. Examples of abnormalities treated include cleft lips, burns and some congenital and development deformities. Gampper said he estimates that in total the delegation will provide services valued at more than $500,000.

Indian members of Rotary Club International will assist the team in arranging overland travel, obtaining medical equipment and translating between patients and clinicians. The Virginia Children's Connection worked with members of the India League in Virginia, Rotary and other service clubs, and local businesses to raise the $25,000 needed to make the trip.

For more information on the Virginia Children's Connection, contact Dr. Thomas J. Gampper at (804) 924-5068.

January 12, 2000