Transforming Rural Medical Care: Swiss Surgeons’ Impact in Ethiopia

MS Teams link: 

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_YmIyNzhiNTUtNzZhOC00YTJiLTlmMjEtMTZmM2Y5ZGRmYmIy%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%220e1621ea-35c7-4318-9be6-600bbedbff48%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%2274a2c1b9-7b2f-432a-b855-1872b65d95f0%22%7d

Meeting ID: 346 093 700 098

Passcode: NU977X

Basel HCD is delighted to host Prof. Dr. med. Reto Babst, Senior Consultant Trauma Surgery & Head Medical, University Hospital Luzern and Vice President of the Foundation for an inspiring lunch webinar! During the session you will hear about the amazing work and the significant impact on how the Go Star Foundation has transformed medical care for the rural population in Ethiopia. To address the challenges of medical care for the rural population, Dr Pelzer, President of the Foundation opened the first trauma surgery center in the whole of Ethiopia in 2006. In 2009 Dr. Pelzer created the Go Star Foundation with

Swiss surgeon friends.

In the webinar you will hear how the Foundation is developing trauma surgery sustainably by closely working together with both Swiss hospitals as well as the

University and the University Hospital in Jimma for effective knowledge transfer. Today, thanks to this tight cross-country collaboration between healthcare

professionals in Switzerland and in Ethiopia, more than 200 injured patients are treated every day in the trauma surgery centre run by the Foundation.

The work by the Foundation would not be possible without generous sponsorship and donations from Switzerland. In November the President of the Foundation, Dr. med Peltzer, will bike 1’300 km with 40 other bikers across south-west Ethiopia to raise money for the trauma surgery centre and its operations! 

We are looking forward to learn more about the bike challenge 24 from Anneke Geyer-Tennekes and how we can support the mission and impact for patients in Ethiopia together with Go Star!

https://www.gostar.ch/en/bike-tours/

We are also privileged to have Dr. med. Jörg Peltzer, Chief Physician Hospital du Jura in Delémont and President of the Go Star Foundation join us at the HCD F2F networking event on 24. September.

Purpose of the foundation:

GO STAR is committed to the sustainable improvement of medical care, particularly trauma surgery, for the population of Ethiopia. The focus is on promoting the training of medical specialists in Ethiopia. Every year, over 10,000 injured people are treated at the hospital in Jimma.

Operations are carried out on severe to moderate fractures, burns with skin grafts and terminal inflammations.

As part of the GO STAR programme, the team works with Swiss hospitals to deploy qualified surgeons, operating theatre nurses, physiotherapists and hospital

specialists in Jimma to train and develop local hospital staff. The foundation also has a major impact by supplying the hospital with important high-

tech materials such as implants, screws, nails, fixators, drills and instruments, which are not available in Africa.

The GO STAR team is also involved in the construction and maintenance of new medical facilities and organize seminars and conferences to promote trauma surgery in Ethiopia.

For more information, go to the website: https://gostar.ch