Nursing team visit India and Bangladesh

A small nursing team including nurses from the UK, Nepal and Canada visited the ITC in Indore, India and the National Institute for Burns and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to work with local staff. This visit is the first step in the development of a nursing training programme to support nurses in Bangladesh, India, Ghana and Nepal over the next 3 years.

The team worked closely with Dr Shobha Chamania and her team before flying to Bangladesh to work alongside local staff at the National Institute for Burns and Plastic Surgery, at Dhaka Medical College Hospital in Bangladesh. The National Institute is one of the largest burn units in the world, with a typical caseload of 350-400 inpatients a day. The team worked with local staff on the wards and in the operating theatre to understand their situation and needs. Following a request from the Institute, a full report with a number of key recommendations to improve care in the unit was provided so that this could be used in advocacy efforts to increase awareness of burns as a key health issue in Bangladesh.

Interburns is extremely grateful to the local teams for their help and support and the volunteer team of nurses for giving their time to carry out the trip and begin work on the new nursing training module. Particular thanks are due to:

• Dr Shobha Chamania and her colleagues at Choithram Hospital and Research Centre

• Professor Abul Kalam and his colleagues at the National Institute for Burns and Plastic Surgery, Dhaka

• Sabrina Zarin and her colleagues at Acid Survivors Foundation Bangladesh

• Sister Nara Devi Bariya, Brigitte Lebrasseur and Dominique Potokar for giving their time to carry out the nursing visit.