Dubai: A medical team from the Little Wings Foundation, a Dubai-based charity, left Thursday for Gaza on a surgical mission to treat children with musculoskeletal deformities.
Three specialists who have flown in from Sweden, Germany and the United States for the mission will join the team of 4 Foundation members from Dubai.
The Dubai-based charity is an independent non-profit organisation, which is dedicated to providing medical assistance to such children living in the Middle East and North Africa.
It has had four previous missions in Palestine working with the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund.
"We have travelled to the West Bank previously, and had always hoped to travel to Gaza as we know there are many children in need of attention. Gaining permission has been a very difficult procedure and we are extremely thankful to the World Health Organisation for assisting us," Dr Marc Sinclair, orthopaedic surgeon and founder of the charity, said.
The mission flew to Cairo and on Friday to enter Gaza by bus through the Rafah Crossing. Aileen Culligan, the foundation's event coordinator, said the mission, which will be based in a Red Crescent Hospital in Gaza City, will carry out a one day screening clinic.
After assessments, the most urgent cases will be operated on over the following five days. The majority of cases will consist of hip dysplasia, clubfoot and badly treated fractures.
The mission is carrying medicines, surgical instruments and other medical material.
First trip
Culligan said this is the team's first trip to Gaza and that there are 120 children waiting and one child will be brought back to Dubai for treatment. Due to the recent war it is also expected that most of the cases will be trauma-related.
Cases that are extremely complicated to operate on in the hospital will then be brought to Dubai or sent to Switzerland for further treatment.
