Surgeon’s ear for poverty

By Danielle Galvin
Adnan Safdar is an ear, nose and throat surgeon who heads to the Battambang Province more than 300 kilometres outside of Phnom Penh in Cambodia.
“It’s a great privilege to help these people. It’s well run and I will continue to go each year,” he said.
The Australian team visits South East Asia twice a year to help some of the poorest people in the world.
Mr Safdar treats locals for ear, nose and throat conditions including middle ear disease and chronic ear infections.
“There’s a French team that goes four times a year and they treat patients and can do follow ups when we leave,” Mr Safdar said.
“We train staff in the local area as well so that the patients can get proper care when we leave.”
Mr Safdar has been working at the hospital for the past year.
He said chronic ear infections led to life-threatening complications.
“It’s very common and if it’s left untreated, it can lead to long-term impairment and chronic hearing loss,” he said.
“They can also develop dead skin on the ear that leads to life-threatening complications and brain abscess.”
It’s the third trip Mr Safdar has gone on, and he said it was “very rewarding” to be able to treat locals and help medical staff in the remote province.
“Each trip consists of a seven-day stay which enables us to operate on over 20 patients with chronic ear disease,” he said.
The trips are self-funded, but St John of God Hospital was able to help by donating medical supplies for the cause.
“The project really does improve the quality of life for people and that is very satisfying to us and the local staff,” Mr Safdar said.