Photo By Sgt. Robert Adams | Lt. Col. Bernita Johnson (right) and Mohammad Al-Saffar (left), HOC public health...... read more read more
Many Iraqi children suffer from war-related injuries or medical deficiencies and the Humanitarian Operations Center public health team works to find them the medical care they need.
The HOC public health team, comprised of U.S. Army civil affairs Soldiers and Kuwaiti officials, works with the Iraqi Ministry of Health to get Iraqi children and young adults the medical treatment they need outside the country when it can't be provided in Iraqi hospitals.
The HOC was formed in 2003 to ensure humanitarian aid got into Iraq during hostilities.
During this time the HOC has facilitated more than 338 medical projects and since June 2005, the HOC has assisted approximately 30 Iraqi children to receive surgeries and medical care in foreign countries.
"This is routine in our mission to help children and young adults who have either been injured in the war or born with abnormalitiesâ?¦ There is just no medical expertise to conduct surgeries or medical care they need," said Lt. Col. Bernita Johnson, HOC public health officer.
One 13-year-old girl, Gufron Gabar, severely burned her face, neck and hands when the petroleum-filled heater she was carrying caught fire two years ago.
Gufron's life has not been the same since because she has never been treated for the scars that have developed as a result of her burns.
The HOC received her case and she is getting plastic and reconstructive surgery in the United States since the treatment is not available in Iraq.
The process to get children out of the country to receive the treatment doesn't happen overnight.
Iraqi families first seek out doctors, medical facilities like the National Iraqi Assistance Center and U.S. military and Coalition soldiers in their area for help.
The NIAC has physicians who will conduct evaluations on children and send the records to the Iraqi Ministry of Health which is aware of all the medical expertise available in the country.
If it's not available in Iraq then the Ministry of Health will make a recommendation that the child receive treatment abroad and contact programs like the HOC or the Civil Affairs Liaison Team based in Jordan with medical requests.
"We (HOC) receive a request to help a particular patient find a sponsor to provide medical care and also someone to provide transportation," Johnson said. "The patients can't afford these surgeries. So we contact charities in the United States and around the world and let them know there is a patient who needs the care and expertise they have available."
"One or more of the agencies will reply to us and say we can either pay for the care or a responding physician will say, "We will accept this as a charity case,"" Johnson added.
The HOC received Gufron's case from the NIAC, found an agency in the United States willing to help and got a doctor willing to treat her at Hilton Head Medical Center in South Carolina.
The United States is not the only country to which patients are sent. HOC sends them to any country that has medical expertise and is willing to provide care at no cost to the family.
HOC also started a program in Kuwait and the government has opened its hospitals to Iraqi patients.
Due to the violence in Iraq, patients don't have the freedom to move around safely and access to the things they need to travel. So HOC will pick up the child and guardian from the Iraqi border, register them for a visa, put them in a hotel, make sure food is accounted for and take them to the embassy to get visas.
They will then drive them to the airport, get them through immigration and speak with the airline to make sure their medical needs are provided for on the flight.
HOC also arranges for Islamic representatives around the hospitals to help assure they will be around familiar customs.
"Families open their homes to the patients and help in every way possible, often with financial donations or just to provide lodging to defray the costs," Johnson said. "They provide a place to live while the patient is undergoing treatment and recovering from surgeries, such as Gufron, who is going to have several surgeries and treatments."
HOC follows each case through the treatment cycle, helps them get back home and, upon their return, meets them at the airport and takes them back to the Iraqi border.
"It's always so wonderful to see the children come back after their surgeries. They are well and happy whereas they were sickly when they left," Johnson said.
Civil affairs is very important in showing the Iraqi people that we want to assist their country in becoming more independent and we are here to help them.
"The word of our missions spread upon patients returning and we win over many people," Johnson said. "It enables our Soldiers fighting the insurgency to be viewed as Americans who are willing to help."
HOC also sends Iraqi physicians to learn procedures from American physicians and assists in getting Iraqi doctors to training conferences in other countries to improve the medical community in Iraq.
"It has become very beneficial to develop relationships with the medical community in Iraq," Johnson said. "We call it winning the hearts and minds one person at a time."
We are very thankful for the opportunities the Iraqi, Kuwaiti and U.S. people have given us and hope the treatment is good, said Gufron's father Satnar Hasson, through a translator.
Gufron added that she wants to continue her education to reach her goal of becoming a doctor.
| Date Taken: | 05.02.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 05.02.2006 13:07 |
| Story ID: | 6234 |
| Location: |
| Web Views: | 132 |
| Downloads: | 61 |
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