SHARE is the Surgical Humanitarian Aid Resource Europe of ESPRAS, the European Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery.

SHARE is the acronym of Surgical Humanitarian Aid Resource Europe. It is one of ESPRAS’ committees and ESPRAS of course stands for the European Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, of which the national societies of plastic surgeons of all 42 European countries are members.

There is a tremendous amount of humanitarian aid carried out by European plastic surgeons. Only a small percentage of all these efforts are centrally coordinated. All of this benevolent volunteering is universally praised and should absolutely continue as long as there are needs for.

There is so much of this going on, however, that overlaps occur, wasting precious energy and money. On the other hand, host countries increasingly express anxiety about the qualifications of visiting team members. Moreover, proper aftercare of operated patients is not always guaranteed.

The above convinced ESPRAS ExCo to found a committee, SHARE. The committee is to coordinate humanitarian missions in the broadest sense.

Read more about espras.SHARE: ESPRAS SHARE Mission Statement

Aims of SHARE

espras.SHARE acts like a clearing house. On the one hand, requests for humanitarian aid are welcomed, on the other hand a database will be run containing plastic surgery teams volunteering to perform humanitarian work. SHARE‘s core business thus is a brokerage function mediating between demands and volunteering offers. Centralizing this coordination hopes to prevent overlap, to stimulate sustainability, and to safeguard ethics.

The goals of espras.SHARE thus are:

I. to facilitate and better coordinate humanitarian activities involving European plastic surgeons, and

II. to improve the quality of humanitarian aid given by European plastic surgeons so that no harm will be done and so that the aid contributes to sustainable development of reconstructive plastic surgery in receiving countries.

In reaching targets of sustainability and better coordination, improving communication between the various organizations and individuals engaged in humanitarian aid is necessary. And espras.SHARE is an ideal tool to obtain that.

Training and education are the primary instruments to reach the goal of sustainable development of reconstructive plastic surgery in host countries. These instruments are therefore among espras.SHARE’s priority concerns.

Finally, teams intending to embark on a humanitarian mission may inquire with SHARE about political stability and safety in the country to be visited, necessary vaccinations, visa requirements, etc. You can read more about the aims of espras.SHARE in the ESPRAS SHARE Mission Statement (see above).