Second mission of Canadian surgeons to work in Kyiv’s Central Military Clinical Hospital

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Kyiv, May 12, 2015. Canadian physicians are about to do five craniofacial surgeries within the next week as part of the second medical mission to Ukraine, said Krystina Waler, Director of Humanitarian Initiatives at the Canada Ukraine Foundation, during the press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center. Ms. Waler told that a group of 20 professional doctors, anesthesiologists and nurses from Canada would treat Euromaidan protesters and soldiers wounded in the course of the Anti-Terrorist Operation in eastern Ukraine. “Canadian doctors will focus on the post-injury reconstruction of facial, skull and limb injuries during their second mission,” Ms. Waler said. The overall grant for medical operations provided by the Board of Canada Ukraine Foundation constitutes almost $250,000.

“For the last six months we were looking for the most complicated cases of injuries that the Ukrainians have suffered in the course of revolutionary events of 2013-2014 as well as in the ATO zone,” said Dr. Oleh Antonyshyn, Professor of Plastic Surgery at the University of Toronto. Every facial reconstruction surgery takes up to 9 hours, therefore, the number of surgeries have decreased in comparison with last year’s mission; however, Canadian physicians are going to deal with much more complicated injuries.

According to Rostyslav Hybalo, Chief surgeon of the Main Military Medical Clinical Center, such operations will be as part of free workshops for Ukrainian and Canadian, so they could share their professional experiences and learn new skills. “The next mission of Canadian volunteer medics to Ukraine is scheduled to take place in the next 6 months,” Mr. Hybalo said.

The second medical mission of Canadian medics conducts free surgeries as part of the comprehensive program established by Canada Ukraine Foundation and supported by the Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper. Thanks to the medics who took part in the first mission, 37 wounded Ukrainians were treated back in November 2014.