Offaly group continues to aid Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) services in Zambia

THIS week Tullamore based charity, Power4Good, provided €42,000 as an educational grant for the training of doctors in Zambia to become ENT Surgeons through the College of Surgeons of East Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA).

This has been facilitated by the work of recently retired Tullamore based ENT surgeon Kieran O’Driscoll who worked in the Regional Hospital Tullamore.

The fund will be managed by COSCESA based in Arusha Tanzania where the college, which trains surgeons for sub-Saharan Africa is based and is referred to as a college ‘without borders’.

Through the work of Kieran, who was the Director of the Tullamore based charity ENT Surgery For Zambia (204- 2015), an MOU with the Zambian Government has been developed. This MOU involves the Zambian Ministry of Health (MOH), COSECSA and our very own Power4Good and has been just signed.

This MOU allows Power4Good to provide the educational funds for ENT surgical trainees. The Zambian MOH will provide the salaries and training facilities and COSECSA will manage the educational fund centrally through its Arusha offices. The COSECSA offices will report back to Power4Good . Already one doctor is on the training scheme.

The former Irish Ambassador to Zambia Bronagh Carr facilitated this MOU with her communications with the Zambian Permanent Secretary Dr Lishimpi.

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Indeed, Kieran cannot praise enough the Department of Foreign Affairs and the staff at Irish Aid for their assistance in all these projects thus far. They never turn a ‘Deaf Ear’ when it comes to helping the burden of poverty-stricken people who are further challenged with hearing loss and head and neck cancer - the two areas highlighted to be the main focus of need in Kierans work in Zambia (2004 – 2026).

Former president Mary McAleese launched the Zambian ENT Mobile Clinic in 2009 . Irish Aid built their ENT theatre which opened in 2010 - Brian Cowen listened as well!

This was all made possible by the people of Tullamore. He cited the Rotary Club Tullamore, the ESB at Portlaoise, the late great Gladys Adams and her husband Paddy through their Annual Fashion Charity Shows, Barbara O’Connell for generous pharmacy supplies, to mention just a few of the stalwart supports over the years.

He couldn’t say enough about the support too of the hospitals at Tullamore and Charter Medical Private hospital. Its important to thank the ENT nursing staffs in the respective theatres who never left him travel to Zambia without essential surgical supplies – part of now has become ‘green’ or sustainable surgery where nothing goes to waste.

Kieran has spent the last five years or so working on the collaboration committee between RCSI and COSECSA and noted the financial difficulties that prevented the doctors entering ENT surgical training. There are only five people providing ENT care to abut 20 million in Zambia up from 12m in 2004. The unit in its capital Lusaka ,where the unit was built still struggles staff wise. The low numbers of consultants being trained impacts the work done by the unit.

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Molly Buckley President of Power4Good was aware of this need and approached Kieran . It was a “no brainer”, she said. The ENT surgical capacity issue in Zambia was a worthy cause.

Mindful of the great difficulties there are running charities he thought of the MOU initiative and the fund controlling expertise of a surgical training college such as COSECSA and RCSI here in Ireland.

The fund will train up to five ENT surgeons hopefully doubling the ENT surgical consultants in the country over the next few years. These trained doctors will stay at least 10 years after qualification working in Zambia.

The Tullamore people have helped thousands of people in Zambia every year with the ENT unit in its capital Lusaka and now through the P4G shops funds will make a huge impact on further patient care