The Cook Islands Charity Surgery – a special mission

The Cook Islands Ministry of Health has an organized system of Health Specialist Visits (HSV) where once a year, a team of urogynecology specialists visit the Cook Islands to assist the local medical teams. The objectives of the HSV are to provide surgical and conservative treatment for female urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, and to provide support to the local gynaecologists with any urgent, difficult cases.

The teams consists of specialists from New Zealand and the Cook Islands. Dr Mairi Wallace, Gynecologist from the Kensington Private Hospital in New Zealand, is head of the team from New Zealand and Dr Kevin Basilli, the single Gynaecologist and Obstetrician in the country, is head of the team from Cook Islands.

In just this week’s visit, the collaborated teams visited two different islands, Aitutaki and Rarotonga where impressively, 56 patients were treated in the outpatient clinic, 38 patients for physiotherapy, 12 patients for Urodynamics and 15 patients for surgery.

A.M.I., together with our partner Endoventure in New Zealand, was honoured to be one of the companies to donate the needed products for this special mission.

“I am eternally grateful for all the assistance from my team members I get every year, without them, this wouldn’t be possible. I also truly admire Dr Kevin Basilli, the nurses and administration staff from the Cook Islands for their incredible work. I also would like to say thank you to the companies for their generosity with the supply of products. My hope is that over time, similar missions can be carried out in other island nations”, said Dr Mairi Wallace.

“It was a privilege to be part of this trip and to see how these teams really help patients suffering from urogynecologic conditions. This is an incredible act of humanity and Endoventure is proud that we could contribute”, said Rachelle Hodgson, Endoventure CEO & Managing Director.

A.M.I. congratulates everyone involved making this significant charity a success!

Photos:
Back row, from left to right:
New Zealand Team: Dr Mairi Wallace (Gynecologist) Dr Michael Kalkoff( Anaesthetist), Ms Andrea Boland (Registered Nurse), Ms Shelly Soloman (Pelvic Floor Physiotherapist)
Front row, from left to right:
The Cook Islands Team: Dr May (Chief Medical Officer for the Cook Islands) Dr Zhaw Aung (Physician)