Foundation Global Grant completed in Sri Lanka

GLOBAL GRANT LINKING ROTARY ALNWICK WITH ROTARY KANDY (SRI LANKA) AND PROJECT SRI LANKA

This Rotary Foundation approved Global Grant, now successfully completed, was for the purpose of providing specialist equipment and surgical training for the treatment of cranio-facial deformities at Peradeniya Hospital in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Deformities commonly arise from benign and malignant neoplasms, trauma and congenital deformities, leading to functional problems, for example with breathing, eating, swallowing and speech. Reconstruction and rehabilitation of patients is essential at the earliest opportunity, otherwise severe disfigurement and death may occur. The complexity of many deformities is such that cranio-facial reconstruction is only possible with highly specialist equipment which, prior to the Global Grant, was not available in Sri Lanka.

Donations enabled the setting up of a digital laboratory to enable complex surgeries lasting anything from 8 to 18 hours to be conducted in Peradeniya with much more accurate and predictable results. Equipment provided has enabled the use of digital planning, simulations and design techniques to improve the quality of reconstructions and construction of patient-specific implants and prostheses in order to manage severe facial deformities.

In the words of one of the senior surgeons, “ If it was not for this donation, the surgery would not be a dream for these patients. Now they will live not die with the abnormalities in their jaws.  Cancer patients would definitely die if it was not for the surgeries we now can do. If not for your donation, post-graduates who are our future specialists would have zero exposure to these life-saving ultra-modern technologies.”