Wide Horizons For Children Launches Physician-Led Missions To Improve Medical Care In Ethiopia

Wide Horizons For Children (WHFC), a leading child welfare agency, is expanding its humanitarian efforts in Ethiopia to include life-saving medical care for expectant mothers and infants. The missions will enable prominent New England physicians to bring world-class training and standards for patient care to Ethiopian medical providers who are practicing in some of the worst conditions in the world.


Through volunteer-led missions, highly-skilled physicians will bring needed medical equipment, perform surgeries and provide training to Ethiopian physicians and mid-wives in life-saving maternal services and procedures such as the treatment of hemorrhaging and pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure). In Ethiopia, two-thirds of mothers die in labor, and one in every 13 children dies before his/her first birthday.


WHFC launched its first medical mission last month, led by Dr. Fletcher R. Wilson, an accomplished OB/GYN and Dartmouth Medical School adjunct professor from Hancock, New Hampshire and Dr. Stephan W. Coffman, a surgeon at Monadnock Surgical Associates in Peterborough, New Hampshire. The team spent a week at the Adua Hospital in Ethiopia's Tigray Region, completing 40 surgeries despite several days with no water or electricity and deplorable conditions. The doctors removed goiters, made surgical repairs and performed C-sections, including one life-saving procedure.


"I was shocked by the primitive and difficult conditions at the hospital, which was staffed by just one doctor. There were no lights in the OR, we didn't have electricity or water for several days, and openly infected patients were waiting in the same room as pre and post-operative patients," said Dr. Wilson. "For starters we're focusing on immediate needs. However, by offering regular surgical services, we hope to encourage more Ethiopian physicians to stay in these areas because of the improved training and equipment that the missions will ensure," he continued.


"The missions are invaluable in optimizing our current efforts building and upgrading clinics and hospitals in Ethiopia," said Janice Hoffman, Chief Operating Officer. "We're no longer simply funding a building; we are now investing in life-enhancing medical services for those most in need".


The next medical mission is scheduled for Spring 2009. For more information or to make a donation, visit whfc/WHFFC/projects/healthcare.htm.


About Wide Horizons For Children (WHFC)


Wide Horizons For Children is one of the largest private, non-profit adoption and child welfare agencies in the United States. The agency has placed over 10,000 children from 53 countries for adoption with American citizens since its founding in 1974. WHFC's humanitarian aid programs have donated more than $10 million to build and support projects for children all over the world.


Wide Horizons For Children