WEST BANK: Team of Volunteer plastic surgeons from Turkey treat Palestinian children with severe skin deformities in Hebron

Record ID: 560267

  • Title: WEST BANK: Team of Volunteer plastic surgeons from Turkey treat Palestinian children with severe skin deformities in Hebron
  • Date: 31st October 2007
  • Summary: (MER-1) HEBRON, WEST BANK (OCTOBER 28, 2007) (REUTERS) PALESTINIAN LITTLE GIRL, BATOUL ABU SUBAIH, EMBRACING HER UNCLE AFTER SURGERY BATOUL ABU SUBAIH SITTING ON BED IN HOSPITAL (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) AHED ABU SUBAIH, FATHER OF A PALESTINIAN PATIENT, SAYING: "A Turkish team of doctors has come and is doing free operations. So we came to have an operation to treat the burn, for my daughter Batoul. Thank God everything is going well."
  • Embargoed: 15th November 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,Health
  • Reuters ID: LVA6Q4KSKX6UGMRTGJ3BJ0OIC47M
  • Story Text: A Turkish medical delegation from the Doctors Worldwide organization in Turkey arrives in the West Bank to research and treat Palestinian children with severe skin deformities.
    A Turkish flag hangs in the hallway at the Palestinian Hebron hospital. It is a sign of welcome for a visiting Turkish medical delegation.
    The team of six doctors are in the West Bank for a week to research and treat children suffering severe skin deformities.
    They are a part of the organization Doctors Worldwide (DWW) which was established in April 2000 to provide medical relief and aid to people who need medical care in poor and war-torn countries.
    Doctor Ethem Gumeren is one of the surgeon's involved in the trip. He said that so far, the visiting doctors have examined 160 patients but can only operate on a quarter of them. Half of their cases are dealing with severe burn victims,
    "This international organization system, the aim of the system is making health organization, making operation, making everything in the name of health in the universe," he said.
    For those needing such treatment in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Turkish doctors' services are welcomed. Ahed Abu Subaih's daughter Batoul, who is four and a half years old, suffered a severe burn two years ago on her back that left her badly scarred. The Turkish team managed to include her as one of its patients.

    "So we came to have an operation to treat the burn, for my daughter Batoul. Thank God everything is going well," said Batoul's father.
    This is the second time Doctors Worldwide have visited Hebron. In 2006 a group came to focus on researching and treating kidney conditions.
    In early November the Turkish delegation will leave the West Bank, but its members say they want to continue helping the Palestinian medical system and will return in the near future to treat other patients.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Footage contains identifiable children: users must ensure that they comply with local laws and regulations governing the publishing of this material.
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