Easing Pain For Thousands Helping Hand Appeal 2018
A My Weekly-funded dermatology clinic continues to offer life-changing treatment
We met Dr Maria Crisan when she came to a hospital near us for specialist training, sponsored by the Rotary Club. Under the dictator Ceausescu’s rule, doctors had to do a range of work and could not specialise but this had changed and Dr Crisan had decided to concentrate on dermatology, a branch of medicine which did not receive a great deal of attention in Romania at the time.
Later, we helped her open up a clinic with a donation of phototherapy lamps and other equipment. In the years that followed we helped with running costs, so patients who could not afford to pay could get treatment too.
Carrying On The Work
“Skin conditions may seem unimportant in comparison to the serious problems we face in life, such as life-threatening diseases, poverty or terrible living conditions,” says professor Maria Crisan of the Dermatology Clinic in Cluj, Romania. But she continues by arguing that only people who have never had to face a skin disease would agree with this.
“The skin is not only the largest organ o in our body, with vital fu unctions, but it is also the most visible, v it defines us in the way we present p ourselves to the outside world. The team from My Weekly showed a deep understanding of all these implications when they agreed to provide state-of-the-art sophisticated and expensive phototherapy equipment for the treatment of diseases such as psoriasis, atopic eczema, vitiligo, pruritus, severe acne and rashes.”
The equipment found its ideal home in the University Dermatology Hospital. It was placed in a special operating room, and ever since it has been used intensively day by day to alleviate the suffering of thousands of patients.
This meant not only a cure for their skin but also for their state of mind. The treatment restored their confidence, their perspective on life: they smile at the world again.
To quote Professor Maria Crisan again, “I never thought I would see such a great impact from such a small and non-invasive therapeutic intervention. I will be eternally grateful to My Weekly and Harrison for making this possible!”