2018 Qinghai Orthopedics and Plastic Surgery Mission

Qinghai Province is located in the northwestern part of China. The province embraces a huge stretch of land. It is the fourth largest province according to area. The whole province is part of Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. The average altitude is over 3,000 meters. It has a relatively small population of about 5.7 million (2010 census). Minority groups consist of 47% of the population. Tibetans is the bigger minority group with 1.4 million which is about 25% of the population. The second largest minority group is Muslim. There are 840,000 Muslims which is 15% of the population.

The Civic Affairs Bureau established a hospital called Qinghai Charitable Hospital at the capital city Xining. This is to cater for indigent patients from the minority groups, especially the Tibetans. HIS Foundation was invited to provide free surgical services at this hospital from March 18 to 24, 2018. A 28-member surgical team formed by volunteer medical professionals from the United States, Hong Kong, and Australia was sent. The target patients included children with orthopedic problems, harelips, and cleft palates. The youngest patient was only five month old. Although many families had to travel a long distance from hometown, they all feel glad to have this unusual opportunity of medical treatment by specialists. Thirty harelip and cleft palate patients and 6 orthopedic patients were operated. Attach herewith are photos of this medical mission for your reference. 

In mid-June a small team consists of orthopedic surgeon, therapist, and nurse will return to the hospital to follow up the postoperative orthopedic patients. Rehabilitation treatment will be rendered.