Are you a surgeon or other medical professional interested in providing pro bono surgeries for acid attack survivors? Please contact us at medical@risecoalition.org to discuss.
RISE helps fund the operational costs of our partner centers in Uganda and Nepal. This funding is used to carry out various types of programming, including visits to hospitals in Kampala and Kathmandu where staff of our partner centers deliver donated medical supplies and provide mental health counseling. In other cases, the money is used to cover transportation costs of reaching acid attack survivors living in more remote areas, many of whom have had little access to treatment of their acid burns.
Staff from our Ugandan partner, EAV, meet with acid attack survivor Bambuza, who lives in Bwindi Forest in Western Uganda. RISE provided funding that allowed EAV to transport Bambuza to Mulago Hospital in Kampala to receive surgeries.Donate
Acid attack survivors typically undergo multiple medical procedures and these procedures are expensive. There are costs associated with the initial hospitalization (which differs depending on the severity of the burn and procedures performed), which for many survivors, lasts several months. Later, reconstructive and cosmetic surgeries may cost 1 million USD or more. (Learn more about average costs of burn treatment.)
The average monthly income for a person living in Uganda is 3.7 million UGX (approximately 1000 USD.) The average monthly income for a person living in Nepal is around 41,000 NPR (approximately 380 USD.) However, most acid attack survivors are unemployed or underemployed and the average salary for an acid attack survivor in Uganda and Nepal is typically much less than that. (Source)
For those survivors who travel outside of their home country to receive treatment, there are additional costs, including airfare, visas, passports, and housing accommodations.
Even in countries with the most advanced health care systems, it can be hard to find specialists who know how to treat acid burns.
In Uganda, there is a shortage of physicians and nurses. Uganda’s doctor-to-patient ratio is estimated to be 1:25,725 and the nurse to patient ratio is about 1:11,000. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends one physician per 1,000 people (Source) By comparison, the U.S. is estimated to have 242 doctors per 100,000 patients (Source).
In addition, Mulago Hospital in the capital of Kampala is the only specialized burn care unit in Uganda (source). This makes it especially difficult for survivors in rural areas to receive treatment.
Please listen to the video from our friends at ASTITWA Nepal to get a sense for training needs at their facilities.
Acid attack survivors treated in less developed countries often do not have access to the most basic of supplies- such as gauze, bandages, and creams needed to properly treat their burn injuries. Many are treated in poorly funded and underfunded government hospitals. Even in more developed countries with better access to basic supplies, they may lack surgical equipment needed to perform more complicated surgeries.
Many of the survivors with whom RISE works live in villages or other rural areas with very little access to hospitals. They may have never received treatment for their acid burns or were hospitalized initially, but did not have access to proper follow-up. Others live in areas with no access to running water or pharmacies that sell medical supplies.
