PARTNER

Fondation St. Luc – Haiti, University of Genoa, University of Florence, Gaslini Hospital of Genoa, Meyer Paediatric Hospital of Florence

ABF ACTIONS

THE PROJECT

With this project, the Andrea Bocelli Foundation decided to support Haitian doctors in the path to access the specialisation course for surgeons offered by Italian and European universities. In this regard it is necessary to apply with the Ministry of Health for equivalence and recognition of the qualification as doctor together with documentation relating to the authenticated, translated and legalised degrees. The Foundation guarantees, thanks to the involvement of the Ministry of International Cooperation and Foreign Affairs, coverage of all the costs required for the specialisation scholarship. Currently, the first Haitian doctor benefiting from this project is regularly enrolled and attends the fourth year of specialisation in paediatric surgery at the Meyer Paediatric Hospital.

THE CONTEXT

During 2019 the Country was affected by significant economic and social blocks due to previous political unrest. Demonstrations and constant inter-clan fighting and struggles between social classes resulted in a significant stoppage of everyday activities such as access to education for many students.

The ABF-FSL schools remained closed for weeks and this resulted in discontinuous access to lessons by the students.

The schedule of visits for the project Mobile Clinic was continuously revised and many visits were cancelled. During 2019, with a planned number of activities equal to 20 visits, activities closed with a total of 10 visits between May and December.

In Haiti, even after obtaining a degree, it is very difficult to access surgical specialisation courses, so much so that the number of actual surgeons is in no way sufficient to meet the demands of such a large and needy population.

The surgeons/population ratio may be estimated to be around 1/2,000,000.