Scots charity to set up children’s operating room in Afghanistan

A charity set up by oil tycoon Sir Ian Wood’s son is saving lives by setting up a new paediatric operating room in Afghanistan.

Kids Operating Room, founded by Garreth Wood and his wife Nicola, will provide children in Afghanistan with access to safe surgery for the first time in years.

Installed at Atatürk Children’s Hospital in Kabul, the country’s busiest hospital, surgeons have been working with a critical lack of equipment or resources to treat children.

KidsOR has already installed 59 operating rooms across Africa and Latin America, but say this is their most challenging project to date.

Afghanistan – one of the world’s highest mortality rates

Afghanistan has an exceptionally large child population with a dangerous lack of access to safe surgery – it is reported to have one of the highest mortality rates in the world according to Unicef.

The installation has involved the collation and shipment of more than 3,300 items of the highest-grade paediatric surgical equipment from the charity’s logistics hub in Dundee.

Now at sea, the shipment is on track to arrive in the country this month, from which point the charity will work closely with in-country biomedical engineers with a view to the operating room being ready from early next year.

Mrs Wood said: “The tireless effort from our team to make this possible has been breathtaking. Afghanistan is one of the hardest places in the world to be a child and there is a huge and desperate need for a paediatric surgery facility. This installation will directly save lives, as well as allow children to live their lives free from disability and pain.”

Transforming futures

“Ultimately, it will transform the futures of vulnerable children and their families. Every child deserves access to surgery and we’re committed to putting the resources in place to make this happen for children across the globe.

“Garreth and I feel very proud that Kids Operating Room are now in Afghanistan and feel strongly that it is a country that will particularly benefit from these facilities.”

It is expected that the operating room will treat around 1,000 children every year and the charity will work with the hospital to ensure they have the essential equipment to set up and carry out complex and lifesaving procedures.

Dr Dunya Moghul, who is a KidsOR paediatric surgeon, is originally from Afghanistan and stressed the importance of the project.

She said: “There is a huge and desperate need for paediatric surgery in Kabul and I’m proud to work with KidsOR to get children access to the safe surgery they so badly need.

“Surgery is a basic human right that must sit at the heart of any sustainable healthcare system. By providing access to safe paediatric surgery, we are breaking new ground to save children’s lives.”