AmeriCares and Harvard Medical Team Complete First Ever Hip Replacement Surgery in Kosovo

AmeriCares Foundation
Monday, 30 April 2001

New Canaan, CT – April 30, 2001 – AmeriCares, the international disaster relief and humanitarian aid organization, has announced the return of its eight-person medical team from Kosovo. AmeriCares, in partnership with doctors from Harvard University's Massachusetts General Hospital, have completed a five-day medical mission in which they helped revamp orthopedic surgery in Kosovo.

AmeriCares donated state of the art surgical equipment for the Orthopedic Surgery Department at Pristina Hospital, provided comprehensive training and performed surgeries, all within a step-by-step lecture setting. In all, the AmeriCares medical team completed 9 surgeries on individuals ranging in age from 7 to 62. One of the many highlights included the country's first ever hip replacement surgery.

The entire lecture and training series ran five days, from April 23 to April 27. Kosovo's Minister of Health had ALL orthopedic surgeons in the country travel to Pristina to participate.

In an effort to create more efficient hospitals, AmeriCares' medical team focused on using up-to-date techniques with state of the art equipment for the most prevalent orthopedic surgical cases in Kosovo. Currently, the recovery period for typical orthopedic surgery is three weeks, but with these new advancements, this time could be cut to two or three days.

For more information, or to contact AmeriCares Foundation, see their website at: www.americares.org