Sweden Sending Doctors To South Africa to Train in Bullet Wound Trauma Treatment

Beginning in 2021, the Västra Götaland region in Sweden will start to send its surgeons to South Africa in order to better learn how to treat knife and gunshot wounds.

The programme, which will see surgeons travel down to the city of Johannesburg for three months at a time will allow the Swedish surgeons to garner more experience with gunshot wounds due to the frequency of violent crime in the city, broadcaster Sveriges Radio reports.

Ragnar Ang, the chief physician at Sahlgrenska’s trauma care unit, has himself worked at a South African hospital in the past and said it would give surgeons the chance to treat more patients in a few months with such injuries than they would normally have in a year in Sweden.

According to the NGO Gun Free South Africa, around 23 people are murdered with firearms every day across the country.

“We are a workforce that they can take advantage of. So there are a few extra hands for them free of charge,” he added. The programme is set to start in the spring of next year.

In recent years, Sweden has seen a high level of shootings across the country with fatal shootings remaining high for the last several years.

Swedish Moderate party leader Ulf Kristersson commented on the phenomenon last July, saying that the level of gun violence was “extreme for a country that is not at war.”

The comments echoed those of Swedish police specialist Gunnar Appelgren who had made a similar statement only months prior.

Swedish Security Service (Säpo) Anders Thornberg also warned that Swedes should not expect the problem of gun violence to go away any time soon stating that he predicted the current level could continue for another decade.

In an interview with Finnish broadcaster Yle earlier this month, Thornberg said that the violence, which is largely due to criminal gang activity, remains high despite the country’s prisons being full.

“Prisons are full in Sweden, detention centres are full, institutions are full, SiS institutions for minors are full. Yet, there are about the same number of shootings, even though the police take more weapons and drugs than we ever did,” he said.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com