Rochdale nurse part of team heading to Ethiopia

Anne McNicholas with a child during her last visit to Ethiopia

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A nurse from Rochdale is part of a medical team that is heading to Ethiopia to deliver facial reconstruction surgery.

Anne McNicholas will travel to Ethiopia in March and spend a month there co-ordinating a team of doctors and nurses who will be operating on people who have deformities caused by facial diseases.

The trip, part of Project Harar, will see 14 doctors and nurses visit Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, where their aim is to deliver high quality medical care to young people with facial disabilities, including Noma.

Around 40 people will be operated on over a two week period and Mrs McNicholas will make sure the patients are ready for their operations and then provide post op care.

When she returns to the UK the patients will be left with other nurses so their post op care can continue.

The team of surgeons taking part come from all over the world and include those with experience in plastic surgery.

Ms McNicholas, project director for Rochdale-based charity Health Aid UK, went to Ethiopia last autumn and spent 6 weeks doing similar work and admits that she has “got the bug” for it and is “looking forward” to getting there in March.

She said: “It seems to be a lot of teenagers this time, which is quite sad but it will be nice to be able to see immediate changes.”

Ms McNicholas is looking for donations of medical dressings and football shirts to take with her.

To get in touch with Ms McNicholas, visit: http://healthaiduk.co.uk

The Health Aid UK website is sponsored by Rochdale Online.