Free surgeries for acid attack victims

Mumbai: Who says 'good will' has died in people! Many organizations have showed up in curing the after effects of acid attacks and burn victims. They have come up with 100 free of cost plastic surgeries for the same.

According to a statement released by Acid Survivors Foundations India on Wednesday, 'Project Revive' will gear up in Delhi-NCR from March 1 to March 12. This project has already won fame and name as many victims from Nagaland, Mizoram and Kashmir have stepped forward for their treatment.

ASFI is a leading NGO for prevention of acid burn violence across the country, which is leading the outreach and acid attack victim identification under the project.

As this project works on some sensitive issues of the society, highly qualified and experienced doctors/specialists from an international organization of plastic surgeons and associated professionals will be assigned for the same.

"The campaign has garnered the response from Kenya, UAE, America, Australia and Germany. It is heart-warming to see that Indians living abroad have been calling to cross-check the authenticity of the message and have been referring people," Megha Mishra, manager, north India of ASFI, told agencies.

"A lot of doctors, army officials, housewives have reached out to us. It is so good to see the society come out and help each other," she said.

Now working over some stats, as per the reports from Acid Survivors Trust International, out of the 1,500 cases recorded in 2004, around 500 of those cases were from India itself.

About the project, Mishra said, "Pre-screening will be done based on photos received on Whatsapp or email. The patients identified would be requested to report to the hospital starting February 29."

"Surgeries will be conducted in a planned manner. Post-operative care will be provided at the hospital. Accommodation is being worked out in case the patients require the out-of-hospital stay for a longer time," she said.

"We don't end it at just doing surgeries, we go ahead in bringing awareness about the issue at hand. There will be workshops and presentations at various night shelters and slums," Mishra said.

Adding to this, AFSI says, this acid violence has shot up to three times in the country.

On February 20, three unidentified motorcycle-borne youths attacked tribal rights activist and AAP leader Soni Sori with an acid-like black chemical near a village in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district.(Inputs from agencies)