In such a poor country we have to search for alternative instruments to use during surgery since imported ones are so expensive. The paperclip has been one answer. In Sri Lanka, Dr Michael Abeyaratine uses a teaspoon to help with hernia operations on tiny babies. He places the tiny blood vessels and sperm ducts in the spoon out of harm s way while cutting the fragile hernia sac. While paediatric surgeons in the West replace their traditional instruments with ever-more sophisticated and expensive gadgets, Third World surgeons have to cater for an expanding population of children with a minimum of equipment.
Innovation is often the only way.
Our approach has not been conventional, says Dr Mechai Viravaidya, Secretary-General of Thailand s Population and Community Development Association. In terms of providing information there must be many ways, not just the traditional ways. At the international conference on AIDS in Montreal recently, where he handed out condom key chains to anyone within reach, he stressed the need for AIDS education in Bangkok, home to most of the country s 100,000 drug users. Most are male and heterosexual, he said, and are putting millions of women at risk. He notes that, although many Thais are worried about AIDS, they know relatively little about it.