Hungarian neurosurgeon mission in Malawi

The African Hungarian Union has once again sent out their medical missionaries to Malawi. The 19th mission lasts from October 26 until November 12, during which Hungarian neurologists will help locals get better near their homes, Világszám reports.

The African Hungarian Union usually sends out two missionary groups each year to those small African communities that are in great need of help. The primary goal is to provide medical and humanitarian aid to these deprived villages, but the Union also strives to spread knowledge and information about them in Hungary – it is important to learn about such communities, as what happens in Africa affects Europe, too.

18 missions have been carried out since 2009, over 40 Hungarian medical experts took part, and almost 40 thousand patients were treated.

It must be noted that the Hungarian medics are not getting paid for participating in these missions and they are using their own holiday leaves. All expenses are covered through donations and sponsors by the AHU.

Power outages are almost an everyday phenomenon in Southeast Africa, so it is nearly a miracle that patients can be operated on. However, this is not the only problem the Hungarian missionaries are facing in Malawi: one neurosurgeon would have to treat roughly 18 million people, and there is only one operating room. In addition, the Hungarian medics will have to train the local medical staff.

Professionalism and medical experience are of crucial importance in Malawi, along with dedication. Thankfully, the Hungarian missionaries are not lacking either, so the locals can get treatment on their native soil.

The missionaries:

Dr Attila Bagó, neurosurgeon head physician
Dr József Árpád Kelemen, anaesthetist, intensive therapy specialist
Dr Gábor Nagy, neurosurgeon specialist
Dr Dávid Nagy, neurosurgeon resident
Dr László Szegedi, neurosurgeon specialist candidate
Adrienn Kamarás, volunteer, Segítő Angyalok Alapítvány
Hubert Tamás Hlatky-Schlichter, volunteer, Segítő Angyalok Alapítvány

For that matter, the members of the mission agreed on the schedule with the two local colleagues on Monday. They checked the available CT and MRI documents and started their mission.

They already succeeded in a serious brain surgery at the Neurosurgical Department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital of Blantyre.

They wanted to help local colleagues in the Mercy James children’s department as well, but everybody was needed for the main operation, hence the smaller check-ups were postponed to Wednesday.

Source: vilagszam.hu