Empowering medics in countries impacted by conflict

Image © Annabel Moeller

When Dr Aisha Alghamji completed a course with the David Nott Foundation in Libya in 2018, the new skills she learnt gave her confidence. “My way of thinking shifted,” she says. “Lack of knowledge for a surgeon is paralysing.”

The UK-based David Nott Foundation works alongside surgeons in situations of war, providing training to medical staff around the world, such as Aisha and her colleagues. Founded by David Nott, a doctor with 30 years’ experience in treating people needing urgent medical care in parts of the world affected by war and catastrophe, the foundation provides medical equipment and training. “I’ve seen the horrors of war,” says David. “But I’ve also seen the power of sharing lifesaving knowledge.”

His time on the frontlines of conflict and disaster zones in some of the world’s most dangerous places has allowed him to see firsthand how trained surgical teams and medical resources can bring hope in times of darkness and save lives. In countries where resources are scarce, access to equipment and training is often limited for the medical professionals and doctors who are at the frontlines of these crises. Sharing knowledge and expertise through the training programmes empowers local medical staff, thus improving the lives of whole communities long into the future, after the teams have left.

In Ethiopia, Dr Esayas Mustefa is the only general surgeon within a 130 km radius in his region. Due to ongoing conflict, there is currently a mass casualty situation in the country. Esayas has been able to attend a surgical training course in the UK, thanks to a David Nott Foundation scholarship. “I really appreciate the chance I was given,” he says. In Ethiopia he has put his newfound knowledge to use to improve the medical care of his community.

“This way, we are making a difference not just today, but also for tomorrow,” says David Nott, founder.

Since its creation, the foundation has trained over 2,158 surgeons and anaesthetists in life- and limb-saving skills. Doctors have been trained across the world, including in Libya, Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Cameroon, Kenya, Moldova, Ukraine, Somaliland, and Yemen. The foundation brings the training material alive for the students, with innovative prosthetic models of hearts, veins, and kidneys, as well as a life-size, whole body silicone simulator model, a bespoke creation for the foundation. Esayas is just one of many doctors who has attended training in the UK thanks to a David Nott scholarship, and the foundation has also provided 47 training courses directly at the frontlines.

The benefits are far-reaching. Not long after completing the training, Aisha performed an operation on a woman in her late 50s, who arrived at the hospital suffering from severe, life-threatening internal bleeding. Aisha used the new techniques that she had learnt, to help save the patient’s life. Today, Aisha is passing on those life-saving skills to other doctors in her field.

Six years on, she works as a trainer for David Nott in Libya, sharing her knowledge with doctors from across the country. This is the thinking behind David Nott’s training – by sharing knowledge in engaging ways, the doctors working on the frontlines of conflict in challenging situations can both use the knowledge to help patients, and share it with colleagues and newer staff. Aisha talks about how satisfying it is to share those skills, and of the joy it brings to know that patients “will benefit, just as my patient did.” As David Nott says when talking of the foundation’s work, “That’s why we do what we do.”

Oak supports David Nott Foundation through our Special Interest Programme, which provides the space and flexibility to support a diverse range of partners around the world, reflecting the interest of Oak’s Trustees.