Projects

The group's current activities are focused on Myanmar. Starting in 2010, a team of ENT doctors and anaesthesiologists travelled to Myanmar and initiated operations and activities at the Yangon ENT hospital.

The situation on-site at the time was shaped by the boycott of the western countries towards Myanmar. There was no surgical equipment to perform middle ear surgery and of the available microscopes, most of them of Chinese origin, most were either broken or in a very poor condition.
However, with the help and support of the German embassy in Yangon, the group was able to provide the most critically needed surgical instruments, as well as a microscope, very quickly.

In 2011, 2012 and 2013, the group established an advanced surgical training and education programme for our colleagues during our stay in the country. The education Dr. Win Htike Kyi, the head of department, was extremely successful, allowing him an observation at the ENT hospital in Salzburg in 2013. Through our commitment and support, Dr. Win learnt middle ear surgery in only three years, enabling him to pass on his knowledge to the team at his hospital in Myanmar.

Another highlight of our work in the region was the introduction of cochlea implant surgery in 2012 by Mrs. Prof. Dr. Olze (Berlin Charité), along with the combined technical and informative support of the company Medel. The surgical method was taught to Dr. Win by Prof. Dr. Rasp (Paracelsus-University Salzburg). As a result of this, the Yangon ENT hospital can now provide deaf adults and children with cochlea implants, enabling, on many occasions, for them to hear for the first time (or to hear again).

Through our work, we reached our goal to completely educate the Yangon ENT hospital and its team in middle ear surgery.

Mandalay
In 2011 we began working with Burmese colleagues in Mandalay. We will continue to develop and strengthen this collaboration in the future. Together with the foundation Stiftunglife, we support medical students in Mandalay to finish their education (http://www.stiftunglife.de).