Turkish doctors have performed the first ever kidney surgery in northern Ethiopia's Afar Region, a report said Saturday.
Speaking to the Ihlas News Agency (IHA), urologist Dr. Serhat Onur said the surgery was performed on 25-year-old Ali Vohabo.
"This surgery was first for our colleagues here. We are sharing our experience with them. I hope they will start performing these kinds of surgeries themselves hereafter. Ali had a very large stone in his right kidney," said Onur, who came to Ethiopia through a program organized by the Association of the Friends of Africa (TADD).
Onur stressed that Turkish doctors did not travel to Africa only to perform surgeries and conduct medical checks, but also to teach their African colleagues "everything [they] know" in terms of anesthesiology and surgeries, adding that knowledge sharing and raising the level of healthcare in the region was the main goal of such trips.
General surgeon Dr. Cengiz Kaya said similar operations were not done in the area due to the difficult conditions people lived in.
Following the successful surgery, Dr. Onur said: "He's doing very well. It really was a very difficult operation, but everything is going well. Ali lives in a village some 120 kilometers (75 miles) away from here. He has been complaining about kidney stones for the last five years. He went to every hospital he could in this area. He came to the hospital where we are currently at for three times, but unfortunately they were not able to perform this operation, so they asked us."
Onur added that the patient would go home in three to four days, where his wife awaits him.
Turkish NGO TADD works in four different areas in Africa: health, economics, education and HIV-AIDS. So far, the association has organized two health events, iftar dinners during the month of Ramadan and education meetings while also assisting African students who come to Turkey to study with the support of the Turkish government.
