New hospital in Jordan treats worst of Mideast war wounded

(MENAFN- Arab News) AMMAN: They are among the most tragically wounded from the Middle East's multiple wars. A 14-year-old Syrian girl whose lower legs were torn off by a shell. A 15-year-old Iraqi boy who was severely burned in a car bomb explosion.
To treat such patients the international charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) next month officially inaugurates its new reconstructive surgery hospital for war victims which it says is unique in the region.
The Amman hospital gathers together battle-tested surgeons counselors and physiotherapists specialized in war victims. It will eventually offer 3-D printing for hand and face prostheses. The eight-story building is also envisioned as a learning center where surgeons from the region and the West can teach each other new skills.
'It's a very new approach of war surgery' says Marc Schakal head of MSF in Jordan.
The need for the facility is also testimony to how the region's conflicts become more horrific.
MSF doctors began running a reconstructive surgery program in a wing of Jordan's Red Crescent facilities in 2006. At that time the focus was on treating casualties from the Iraq war. Now it's Iraq the civil war in Syria and repeated Israel-Hamas conflicts in Gaza all of which take a terrible toll on civilians.
Associated Press journalists spent several days at the MSF Hospital for Specialized Reconstructive Surgery which has been operating for the past five months on a test basis.
Dr. Mukhalad Saud a plastic surgeon treats burn patients. There are many in his native Iraq. He says he can't allow himself to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of heart-breaking cases.
'As a surgeon you have to have a hard heart and a sharp knife' he told AP.