TWO thousand Iranians who need plastic surgery will be waiting for a North-East surgeon when he goes on his next mercy mission.

Charles Viva, a retired surgeon who used to work at Middlesbrough General Hospital, has already operated on hundreds of poor people in Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Now he is joining a volunteer team of plastic surgeons and nurses who are due to fly out to the Iranian capital, Teheran, in July.

The team, funded by the international charity Interplast, is expected to operate on hundreds of poor people who need surgery for cleft lips, cleft palates and burns, but cannot afford treatment.

"It is exciting because nobody seems to venture to Iran," said Mr Viva, who lives in the Nunthorpe area, near Middlesbrough.

The team will treat as many as they can, but a staggering 2,000 people have already put their names forward for treatment.

"The doctors in Teheran are very keen for us to go," said Mr Viva, who also provides training in plastic surgery for local doctors.

While Mr Viva is looking forward to his trip to Iran, he is still saddened by news from his tsunami-stricken home country of Sri Lanka.

"I was in Sri Lanka last October, working with local doctors in the town of Hambantona, in the south of the country," said Mr Viva.

"Four of the doctors I trained as plastic surgeons were killed in the tsunami and the town has been completely wiped out," he said.

Since the Boxing Day disaster, which killed hundreds of thousands of people across southern Asia, Mr Viva's former colleague, retired anaesthetist Dr Ian Mair, has made frequent trips to Sri Lanka to help victims.

"I have sent him funding to buy medicines. They need basic health care now, rather than my surgical skills," he said.

Mr Viva plans to return to Sri Lanka in October to visit an area where there are many burns victims in need of treatment.

Each trip costs about £10,000 and most surgeons pay their own expenses.

He has already visited India and Pakistan this year, where he has treated large numbers of needy patients.

To make a donation to Interplast, ring (01642) 882442.

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