Back to Our Programs
Humanitarian Program
ISAPS promotes reconstructive surgery missions all around the world.
Interested in using your expertise to make a difference? Explore our current humanitarian projects below.
We applaud all those ISAPS members who actively participate in these vital programs. We are working to continuously update and revitalize our humanitarian mission efforts.
If you've been involved in any of these programs, get in touch, tell us your story, and post on the ISAPS blog.
AICPE Onlus Program
The AICPE Onlus program was created with the aim of carrying out charitable and solidarity activities in favor of disadvantaged people due to unfavorable psycho-physical or economic-social conditions, with particular attention to developing countries. Furthermore, as per the statute, the non-profit organization will also be able to promote and implement technical, scientific, cultural and professional training programs both in Italy and abroad.
Contact: Dr. Yury Macrino – dr.yurimacrino@gmail.com
Frequency: not specified (contact organization for specific dates)
Location: Togo, Paraguay, Guatemala, Benin
Specific surgical need: malformation repair, flaps, skin grafts, wound debridement
Number of surgeons needed: 2+ board-certified surgeons
Gaza Plastic Surgery
Gaza Plastic Surgery Curriculum Development and Board Certification Program:
Connected to the MAPS and IDEALS Program, this project aims to help Palenstine set up their own Board Certification program, starting with up-skilling existing ortho and general surgeons. They only have one surgeon who is ‘Board Certified’ in Plastic Surgery, so they don’t have enough trainers to produce more surgeons. This includes extra visits for plastics training, every two months, for one week at a time, of intensive training.
Contacts: Dr. Naveen Cavale – naveen.cavale@nhs.net
Lauren Poskitt – info@realplasticsurgery.co.uk
MAPS / IDEALS Program
This program combines two charities who work together MAP (Medical Aid for Palestinians) and IDEALS (International Disaster & Emergency Aid with Long-term Support)
Contact: Naveen Cavale – naveen.cavale@nhs.net
Frequency: all year (contact organization for specific dates)
Location: Palestine, Lebanon
Specific surgical need: limb reconstruction, post conflict trauma, gunshot wounds
Number of surgeons needed: 6 per mission
MedGlobal
MedGlobal is a nonprofit organization that provides free, sustainable healthcare services to refugees, the displaced, and the most vulnerable in crisis areas and low-resourced countries worldwide. We send medical professionals to provide training and clinical care and we require a 1-week minimum time commitment.
Contact: Becca Sheehy – volunteer@medglobal.org
Frequency: all year (contact organization for specific dates)
Location: Gaza, Syria, Iraq
Specific surgical need: none specified
Number of surgeons needed: 2–5 per mission
Mision Caritas Felices, Peru
Misión Caritas Felices is a non-profit association founded and made up of Peruvian volunteers from various specialties. We focus on helping low-income people born with cleft lip and/or palate. This is achieved through free reconstructive surgeries nationwide and complementary treatments in various areas involved to achieve the total rehabilitation of the patient.
Contact: Lissel Kruger – mcf@misioncaritasfelices.org
Frequency: 5 missions per year (contact organization for specific dates)
Location: Lima, Perú
Specific surgical need: cleft lip/palate
Number of surgeons needed: not specified
Nuevo Amanecer Program
The “Nuevo Amanecer” (“New Dawn”) program is an altruistic medical program that began 35 years ago, where children with Cleft Lip and Palate are treated. It is focused on low-income children in Guanajuato. The children born with a cleft lip or palate, if not supported by programs like “Nuevo Amanecer”, would be condemned to a life of margination. Until a few years ago, those who suffered from cleft lip and palate were stigmatized and ostracized.
Contact: Dr. Abel De la Peña – docabel@icloud.com
Frequency: twice a year (contact organization for specific dates)
Location and dates: Guanajuato, Mexico
Specific surgical need: cleft lip/palate
Number of surgeons needed: 5 board-certified plastic surgeons; 8 plastic surgery residents
Operation Restore Hope
Operation Restore Hope is a program for the repair of cleft and craniofacial deformities in Manila, the Philippines since 1993.
Contact: Katherine Hodgkinson – katherine@drhodgkinson.com.au
Frequency: There are 2 missions. First is active all year round, supporting local surgeons in 2 hospitals. The second is annual for 7-10 days only (contact organization for specific dates)
Location: Philippines
Specific surgical need: cleft lip/palate
Number of surgeons needed: 2-6 per mission
Operation Smile, International
Operation Smile creates solutions that deliver safe surgery to people where it's needed most. What started as a family-led, medical-mission based organization has grown into a global network of passionate individuals united under the belief that access to safe surgery is not a privilege, but a universal human right.
Contact: Sarah Yatsko here
Frequency: all year (contact organization for specific dates)
Location worldwide
Specific surgical needs: various
Number of surgeons needed: as many as possible
Palestine Children’s Relief Fund
For thirty years, PCRF has been on the ground in the Middle East, providing free medical care and urgent humanitarian aid for children in need, regardless of religion or race.
Contact: Suhail Flaifl – suhail@pcrf.net
Frequency: all year (contact organization for specific dates)
Location: Palestine
Specific surgical need: none specified
Number of surgeons needed: as many as possible
Smile Network International
Smile Network International is a non-profit organization that provides life-altering, reconstructive cleft surgeries and related healthcare services at no charge to under-resourced children and adults across the globe. Since 2003, Smile Network has performed thousands of surgeries in 13 countries on five continents.
Contact: Maureen Cahill – maureen@smilenetwork.org
Frequency: 8–10 missions per year
Location: Haiti, Guatemala, India
Specific surgical need: cleft lip/palate
Number of surgeons needed: 2 surgeons per mission, up to 16 surgeons per year
Viet Duc University Hospital of Hanoi
Support the department of CranioMaxilloFacial and Plastic Reconstructive Aesthetic Surgery at the Viet Duc University Hospital of Hanoi.
Contact: Dr. Nguyen Hong Ha – nhadr4@gmail.com
Frequency: all year (contact organization for specific dates)
Location: Vietnam
Specific surgical need: Craniofacial Maxillofacial, Maxillofacial Trauma, Vascular Malformations, Hand, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery
Number of surgeons needed: 2–10
Success Stories
- Missions to Amman, Jordan helped local surgeons treat injured Syrian refugees:
- 18 trips, 263 surgeries, and 450 patient evaluations.
- Total International Disaster Relief Missions to Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon:
- 25 trips, 438 surgeries, 907 patient evaluations
We applaud all those ISAPS members who actively participated in this vital program. We are working to continuously update and revitalize our humanitarian mission efforts.
