World Orthopaedic Concern UK

WOC NEWSLETTER 100 May 2007, PAGE 1

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Perhaps the magic number 100 is sufficient reason and excuse for WOC to embark upon some form of reappraisal and reassessment. The membership of the organisation is so different in every part of the world, that it behoves us to identify common objectives and to  learn from successes and failures, to emphasise the positive and avoid the negative. It is hoped that this Newsletter might begin the process.

I remain disappointed that the dissemination of the Newsletter, through ordinary mail, has not yet been arranged (funded), so we reply upon the various regional secretaries to circulate their remote members, from the internet downloaded copy. But it is painfully clear that the former flow of correspondence, generated by the mailed Newsletter, has dried up since the “’net” is our only means of communication. Sadly the result is that our items of news are predominantly from those whom the editor actually rings or meets. This pattern reveals the fact that the UK members of WOC have self-selected certain areas of the world into which to put their effort. WOC is after all, a collection of individuals doing their own thing, generally under with the “blessing” of their own national region of WOC. No part of WOC has executive power, but offers an umbrella of approval, useful if not essential for certain spheres of activity. WOC does not employ, nor itself train, but through communication, it facilitates.

World wide statistics (WHO) have quantified the extent of musculo-skeletal pathology, responsible for significant disability, much resulting in dependence on help from family or tribe. Our planet houses a total of 355 million disabled, including 190 million with O.A and 16.5 million with R.A. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention quotes 21.6% of the US population, (46.4 million) who suffer from reduced activity because of medically diagnosed arthritis. Faced with such precise statistics, the average reader of these pages can only raise an impotent eyebrow, shrug the figures into a deep file and, with a profound sigh, get on with his or her work.

Unlike WHO, WOC is involved with the day-to-day assistance of each individual patient. Those orthopaedic surgeons who live and work in the developing world, have the care of those patients; those of us who make teaching visits, inevitably brief, have a duty to convey technical information (passing on tricks and warning of dangers) to those who shoulder the burden of the statistics quoted above. That capacity (duty) is unique to those of us who have been trained in the management of the conditions prevalent in the developing world. We do not, nor can we, accept the responsibility for global economics, nor politics, nor preventative measures outside the narrow field of our speciality.

Examples of achievements, with the above criteria, are described below. They are individual pieces of work, not organisational administration, because WOC does not have power, only enthusiasm.

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