Medical Trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo
Christ Presbyterian Church 944 E. Gorham St., Madison, Wisconsin 53703
media release: Two years ago, three Madison groups formed a partnership that is now enabling neurosurgeons in Africa to initiate basic microsurgery training in their home countries.
It is the first step in working together to improve access to medical care in Africa.
On Saturday, Feb. 8, two of the leaders of that partnership will describe their trip last November to the Democratic Republic of Congo where they were part of a conference of 350 African neurosurgeons. The public is invited to the presentation at 3 p.m. at Christ Presbyterian Church, 944 E. Gorham St.
This all began in 2023 when Madison International Partners, Christ Presbyterian Church, and the Madison Microsurgery Initiative identified microsurgery as one of the areas of need in Africa. The lack of microsurgery training and equipment means that professionals who want to acquire microsurgical skills must travel outside of the continent for training.
The first action of the partnership was a trip in October 2023 to the country of Chad to deliver critical medical equipment to a hospital in the capital city of N’Djamena and help establish the country's first ever microsurgery center.
Following the success of that first step, the focus expanded toward the goal of making a bigger impact and that is what led to attendance at the November meeting of The Continental Association of African Neurosurgical Societies (CAANS).
Jean-Rene Watchou, director of International Outreach at Christ Presbyterian Church, and Dr. Abdullah Keles, scientist and manager of the Mustafa K. Baskaya Lab, and founder of Madison Microneurosurgery Initiative at the Department of Neurological Surgery (UW Madison) travelled to the congress with 45 used microscopes and microsurgery training kits.
At the congress, Dr. Keles trained more than 70 neurosurgeons in microsurgery, 45 microscopes and training kits were distributed to 25 microsurgery centers located in 19 countries across Africa. Those microscopes will be used to train neurosurgeons, and improve healthcare access to people in the continent.
The presentation on Feb. 8 will include stories of what has happened as well as hopes for the future.