International Cooperation:
Egypt

Egypt

During almost 30 years of cooperation with Egypt, Bambini Cardiopatici nel Mondo and the IRCCS Polyclinic San Donato Research Hospital have performed c. 70 missions and have treated 855 patients, including 255 at GSD Hospitals. The institutions have trained more than 50 local cardiologists and clinicians from 1992 to 2020, inviting them to the IRCCS Polyclinic San Research Hospital to share GSD advanced medical skills that will in turn permit the treatment of sick children in their home country.

Investing in the Young Doctors of Tomorrow

Over the period from 1992 to 2019 both institutions covered the costs of 50 scholarships including accommodation to more than 50 medical doctors from Egypt.

More recently, grants were raised making available a further 20 scholarships for Egyptians doctors who will begin arriving at the IRCCS Polyclinic San Donato Research Hospital in March 2021.

Some key statistics concerning Egypt and its need of healthcare services are summarised below:

98,000,000.00 inhabitants
20,000 children needing cardiac treatment per year (surgical or interventional procedures)
4,500 children per year are treated in Egypt currently
15,550 children per year have no chance to be treated locally

Snapshot of activities

Activities have slowed down slightly due to the pandemic necessitating an update on the 2020 ‘Project Egypt’, in particular, concerning the care of children with congenital diseases. However, as a result of the programmes started by GSD that were tailored to the needs of Egyptian hospitals such as the Police Hospital Agouza (Cairo) and the Children’s Hospital Abou El Reesh (Cairo), many humanitarian missions have begun and are carried every 2-3 months on a continuous basis.

Activities currently carried out in Egypt by GSD and Bambini Cardiopatici nel Mondo include:

Training Programmes aimed at creating education and training missions for local medical and paramedical personnel as well as scholarships for visiting Egyptian doctors to the IRCCS Polyclinic San Donato Research Hospital. Workshops in both Italy and in Egypt are periodically organised to share the best practices in the healthcare sector and conribute to a better knowledge of congenital heart disease.
Surgical missions have been set up and are currently c. 6-8 surgical missions per annum.
A local network of Outpatient Centres have been sest up in cooperation with IRCCS Polyclinic San Donato Research Hospital and the Bambini Cardiopatici nel Mondo association
A telemedical service has been set up between IRCCS Polyclinic San Donato Research Hospital and University Children’s Hospital Abu El Reesh (Cairo) that provide telemedicine services especially designed for ultrasound procedures. A device tailored for telemedicine has already been donated to the University hospital.

Partnership with AISPO (Associazione Italiana per la Solidarietà tra i Popoli – Italian Association for Solidarity among People)

GSD, the IRCCS Polyclinic San Donato Research Hospital and Bambini Cardiopatici nel Mondo have joined forces with AISPO in an effort to provide support and training to nursing care in Egypt. The general objective of this collaboration is to contribute towards improving the general health status of the Egyptian population through better nursing care. In particular, within the three Governorates of Port Said, Ismailia, South Sinai and neighbouring areas. The Project was launched by Bambini Cardiopatici nel Mondo in collaboration with AISPO (Associazione Italiana per la Solidarietà tra i Popoli – Italian Association for Solidarity among People).