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Volunteers Provide Surgery and Vision Care for Honduras’ Poor

June 7, 2018
Press Release

SAN DIEGO – June 4, 2018 – Two volunteer teams, sent by San Diego-based International Relief Teams are headed to Sula, Honduras on Saturday, June 9, 2018 to provide critical health services. The first team of volunteer doctors and nurses will conduct much needed ear, nose, and throat (ENT) surgeries in one of Honduras’ poorest communities. They will perform 35-40 surgeries and examine over 100 patients. The second team of volunteers trained in vision care will screen more than 500 patients and dispense more than 400 pairs of distance and reading eyeglasses.

Photos and stories about the beneficiaries can be provided for media release.

Due to poverty and the lack of access to basic medical care, the residents of Sula and surrounding communities suffer from conditions that are often corrected with quick, outpatient procedures in the United States. IRT’s medical team travels to the area every summer and commonly conducts tonsillectomies, adenoidectomies, ear tube placements, and nasal polypectomies.

“Our yearly ENT surgery clinic is critical to the people in this community,” says Barry La Forgia, International Relief Teams founder and executive director. “About half of the patients we serve are children who get very sick because they do not have access to much-needed surgical care. In addition, this year we are excited to bring our vision care team to Honduras to provide eyeglasses for children and adults suffering from poor vision. These simple eyeglasses will enable children to stay in school and give adults the ability to work.”

International Relief Teams has extensive experience working in Honduras. In 1998, they sent emergency shipments of medicines and medical supplies following Hurricane Mitch which killed thousands and left many homeless. In 1999, IRT sent their first medical team to the region and treated more than 1,300 patients suffering from water borne diseases and exposure to the elements. Since then, IRT has continued to respond to the severe shortage of medical specialists and surgeons in Honduras by sending cataract, ENT and other teams to the country.

International Relief Teams alleviates the suffering caused by poverty and disaster around the globe, from the forgotten corners of the world to right here at home, by sending volunteer teams and medical supplies to make immediate change for the world’s most vulnerable people. 

Contact:

Jenna Montgomery

Communications Manager

(o) 619-284-7979

(c) 760-815-5786

jmontgomery@irteams.org

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