A 60-member team of orthopaedics specialists from Thailand is now in Dhaka to carry out leg transplants for 100 patients, including those whose legs were amputated after the Rana Plaza tragedy.
The team started operating at the National Institute of Trauma of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation (NITOR) on Sunday and a total of 46 patients got transplanted legs on the very first day.
The government of Thailand is providing the service free of cost as a gesture of friendship to Bangladesh. Health Secretary MM Niazuddin inaugurated the seven-day programme earlier in the day.
The Thai team arrived in Bangladesh in two groups, the first team on September 19 and the second on September 22. The pre-surgery examination of the patients was done on Saturday.
“The visiting team are experts in their job and they have brought all necessary instruments with them for the transplant procedure,” said Professor Dr Abdul Awal Rizvi, director of NITOR.
“They can create artificial legs within a very short time.”
During their stay, the team would transplant 70 below-knee and 30 above-knee patients, five of whom lost their legs in the Rana Plaza incident.
The operations would end with a closing ceremony on September 28 and the visitors are scheduled to fly back on the next day.
