WORLD-RENOWNED BURNS TRAINING COMES TO BANGLADESH
A partnership of Australian and Bangladesh agencies launched a world-renowned severe burn training course for Bangladeshi doctors in Dhaka on 22 April. The Emergency Management of Severe Burns (EMSB) course is a train the trainer model, with ten experienced Australian health care workers transferring their skills in serious burns management to 48 senior Bangladeshi doctors. A number of these will become instructors.
The course has been accredited by five international medical institutions in Australia, the UK, and the Netherlands, including with the International Society for Burns Injury, and has been operating internationally for 15 years.
The course was launched by a leading Australian surgeon Professor Peter Maitz of Interplast Australia and New Zealand, the Australian High Commissioner Dr Justin Lee and Dr. AKM Fazlur Rahman of the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research Bangladesh (CIPRB).
Professor Maitz said, “More than 250,000 people in Bangladesh suffer moderate to severe burns every year. It is the leading cause of injury among 1 to 4 year olds and the second biggest cause of permanent disability”.
“The course is part of a long term commitment with another training course involving Australian medical personnel scheduled for Chittagong in December”, Professor Maitz said.
Dr Lee commended Interplast ANZ for its longstanding commitment to health care in Bangladesh. He underlined the importance of preventing and addressing disability in Australia’s development cooperation program, and was pleased the Australian Government could contribute to the project through AusAID’s Australian NGO Cooperation Program.
CIPRB’s Dr Rahman welcomed the Bangladesh doctors’ commitment and enthusiasm for the training. Professor Maitz recognised CIPRB’s crucial role in the success of the project. Established in 2005, CIPRB works to address the more than 30,000 children who die each year in Bangladesh from preventable injuries such as drowning, burns, falls and violence.
Interplast Australia & New Zealand sends teams of volunteer plastic & reconstructive surgeons, anaesthetists and nurses to developing countries in the Asia Pacific Region to provide free treatment and medical training. It sends 25 - 30 teams to 12 - 17 countries each year. The course was also assisted by the Australian and New Zealand Burn Association.
Australian High Commission, Dhaka, 22 April 2009
For further information please contact: Senior Political & Economic Research Officer, AHC, Dhaka.
Tel: 8813105, E-mail: [email protected]