The Italian Foreign Ministry and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) are undertaking a humanitarian project to provide treatment in Genoa and Tunis for 10 seriously ill children.
Ten seriously ill children from Libya will be given treatment in Genoa and Tunis through a humanitarian project provided by the Italian Foreign Ministry and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS). The project will be carried out by Terre des Hommes together with Mediterranean Hope, the refugee and migrant program of the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy (FCEI).
One or two of the children, who suffer from cardiac illnesses, will be transferred to Gaslini Hospital in Genoa for heart surgery in the coming weeks. The International Evangelical Hospital in Genoa will take care of accommodations for parents accompanying their children.
Libya experiencing a period of extreme instability
Bruno Neri, Libya project director for Terre des Hommes, said Libya is currently experiencing a period of extreme instability. "Seriously ill children in the most vulnerable groups of the population don't have the chance to receive adequate treatment and their lives are at risk," Neri said. "That's why, thanks to the essential support of the Italian Embassy in Tripoli, in February we began a healthcare assistance program with the Children's Hospital in Tripoli and the local hospital and municipality in Zintan," he said. Zintan is a small city about 200 km west of Tripoli, at the border with Tunisia.
Children to receive treatment in Tunis and Genoa
Dr. Luciano Griso, who is directing the project for FCEI, said that in recent weeks his group has monitored and evaluated the cases presented by the project's partner hospital in Libya.
"There are 10 children between the ages of two and 14 years old, with various illnesses," Griso said. "The children will be treated in Tunis, although we found it essential to transfer two of them to Italy due to the particular intricacy of the operations they have to undergo," he said.
"This is a small pilot project that also provides for training in Tunis or Italy for some healthcare workers from Zintan Hospital, in order to make rehabilitation programs possible for some of the children treated in Tunis, and eventually others who we hope will be part of future programs," he said.
This project is part of a broader general effort by Terre des Hommes and Mediterranean Hope-FCEI to protect the right to asylum and international protection. The effort also includes the opening of a humanitarian corridor from Libya to Europe for the most vulnerable.