Australian doctors fear an 11-year-old refugee boy living in the community on Nauru could be permanently disabled if he does not receive urgent surgery on his arm.
Doctors for Refugees co-founder Barri Phatarfod is concerned those resettled on the island are not getting access to appropriate medical care.
She cited the case of an Iranian boy who fractured his left arm on May 4.
It is not known how the injury occurred, but his arm has been reset in a cast and the boy is still in severe pain.
A two-week window for surgery for this specific type of fracture had passed and, a month on, the International Health and Medical Services (IHMS) and Nauru doctors are still dithering on whether to operate, Dr Phatarfod said.
She said 11 Australian doctors, including an orthopedic surgeon, a radiologist and an emergency physician familiar with the case, have all said surgery is required otherwise he will lose complete function of his arm.
"If he's left-handed, he might never be able to write again," Dr Phatarfod told AAP.
She said if the bones are left to heal as they are, he risks losing the ability to rotate his forearm.
IHMS re-examined the boy on Friday, but it is not known whether he has been booked in for surgery or whether the procedure can be done on Nauru.
Comment has been sought from IHMS and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton's office.
A spokesman for the Nauru government said they would provide comment on Monday.
The case comes as doctors at the Australian Medical Association national conference in Brisbane this weekend vowed to ramp up a campaign against new federal laws that prevent them from blowing the whistle on failures in detention centre health care.
Later an IHMS spokeswoman for referred media inquiries on the boy to the immigration department.
Share
