Neverest Orthopaedic Foundation

Delivering orthopaedic education, skills and equipment to Nepal.

https://neverestfoundation.com/

In September 2019 I had the privilege of travelling to Kathmandu with Neverest Orthopaedic Foundation.  Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world with 1 in 4 people earning just $0.50 per day. In 2013, Neverest Orthopaedics established an annual trip to deliver orthopaedic equipment and education to 2 cities in Nepal, Kathmandu and Chitwan. Their mission statement is “Give a man a fish, and you have fed him once. Teach him how to fish and you have fed him for a lifetime”.

Their main aim was to enhance the orthopaedic education in these cities with the hope of providing a sustainable improvement in the delivery of trauma and orthopaedics in Nepal.

The trip was fascinating and hugely rewarding on a personal level. Our orthopaedic responsibilities included delivering lectures to doctors, running specialist orthopaedic clinics and taking part in operations. This was intermingled with other charity work, such as visiting orphanages and schools. The friendliness and welcoming nature of the Nepalese was amazing. We managed to experience their culture and felt that the work we were doing was making a difference.

Understandably, Nepal’s infrastructure in orthopaedics is very much in its infancy. Routine operations that we take for granted in a developed country, such as hip and knee replacements are almost nonexistent. In fact, almost all my “normal” routine operations I do as a shoulder surgeon in the UK are not performed in Nepal. However, there is an abundance of trauma and the consequences of trauma. Clinics were full of patients with complex limb deformities or non-healed fractures looking for solutions. Really challenging issues that we would only occasionally see in the UK. We planned surgery for some of these patients that week to try and impart some of our expertise to the Nepalese doctors. One surgery I was involved in was fixing a complicated elbow fracture. The operation went very well despite the power cut at a crucial time denying us any light. Certainly the first and hopefully last time I operate using mobile phone torches!!

Sadly, Neverest orthopaedics were not able to go to Nepal in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic. However, they were able to send £500,000 of orthopaedic equipment. Let’s hope 2021 will allow us to return to continue the important work Neverest orthopaedics is doing.