Open Hospitals in Syria A concrete sign of solidarity to withstand the war AVSI Foundation: who we are
AVSI, created in 1972, is a non-profit organization which carries out development cooperation and humanitarian aid projects throughout the world.
Vision AVSI works for a world where the person, aware of his/her value and dignity, is the protagonist of his/her own integral development and that of his/her community, even in crisis and emergency contexts.
Mission AVSI implements cooperation projects in various sectors with a preferential focus on education, meaning that the person is accompanied towards self-discovery and recognition that the other person is a resource. Each project is conceived as an instrument to promote this awareness in everyone involved, has in itself a need for communicating and sharing, and creates an impact capable of generating a positive change.
2 AVSI numbers
3 4 Open Hospital The project Project Background o The project starts from an initiative of H.E. Cardinal Mario Zenari, Apostolic Nuncio in Syria, who, together with Msgr. Giampietro Dal Toso, Secretary of the former Pontifical Council Cor Unum (now Dicastery for the Service of the Integral Human Development), on the occasion of a meeting with the Syrian bishops in Beirut in June 2016, considered it primary and crucial to find a tangible way to give relief and aid to the Syrian population exhausted by war. o The Syrian crisis continues to increase and aggravate the health care needs of people who still live in this tormented territory. The most recent estimates (OCHA data) say that 13.5 million Syrians are in need of aid, and 11.5 million of them have no access to health care; 40% of these are children. o The healthcare institutions still operating are forced to an effort that often exceeds their actual available resources, impoverished by various factors: insufficient skilled staff due to massive emigration, lack of medicines and supplies caused by the international embargo, damage to infrastructure and shortage of state contributions among others.
6 Project Background o The project starts from the observation that three hospitals depending on catholic institutions (Saint Louis Hospital in Aleppo; French Hospital in Damascus; Italian Hospital in Damascus), with the capacity to offer high- level services in all medical specialties, were not utilized in all their potential even the need for care of suffering people is very high, due to the financial barrier faced by Syrian poor population.
o Card. Zenari has involved the catholic congregations and, along with the Dicastery for the Service of the Integral Human Development, has charged AVSI to provide technical support, while the Gemelli Polyclinic Foundation will contribute as a scientific and healthcare partner offering training and financial support.
7 The Hospitals
The Italian Hospital in The French Hospital in The St. Louis Hospital in Damascus Damascus Aleppo o Was founded in 1913 o Was founded in 1905 o Was founded in 1905 and is managed by the and is managed by the and is managed by the Salesian Sisters Company of Daughters Sisters of Saint Joseph Daughters of Mary help of Saint Vincent of Paul of the Apparition of Christians o The hospital has 104 o The hospital has 60 o The hospital has 55 beds and employs 47 beds and employs 18 beds and employs 26 physicians and 139 physicians and 44 physicians and 54 nurses nurses nurses
8 The objectives o The project’s objective is to support the improvement of the psycho - physical conditions of the most vulnerable populations in Aleppo and Damascus by enabling access to the health care services supplied by the 3 private hospitals involved. The project has a duration of 3 and half years, starting from July 2017 to December 2020. o The first project Objective is to improve quantitatively and qualitatively the healthcare services provided to vulnerable persons by the hospitals involved. It is expected to provide free of charge hospital and outpatient services to at least 50.000 vulnerable patients. o The second objective is to improve the structural conditions of the three hospitals, through three main line of activities:
The establishment of a social office in each hospital to certify the poverty status of the people who requires treatment, as well as to function as an advantaged hub for referral and psychosocial support.
The upgrade of the medical equipment available and information system, justified by the increase of activity in the hospitals (activity already funded)
The training of the hospitals’ staff medical and/or administrative and managerial staff.
9 The Results As of today:
- 3 Social Offices has been set up, to receive medical treatment requests and identifying the patients most in need to ensure that they will be prioritized to get free access to the medical treatments
- Over 15.700 patients were accepted and treated free of charge (surgical operations, diagnostic tests, common diseases treatments, outpatient treatments)
- The quality of the health care has increased thanks to the installation of modern health equipments
- The occupancy rate of the hospitals has increased
- the installation of a new IT system and the training of administrative and medical staff is foreseen in the next period
10 Open Hospital Data Analysis and Statistics December 2018 Patients who had access to medical services November 2017 to December 2018 3500
3000
1780 1775 1735 2500
1495 1451 1463 2000
1163 1108 343 319 374 1500 1015 280 868 304 346 0 720 1000 828 189 1034 589 277 650 1053 510 204 842 721 485 186 277 387 234 500 191 236 133 209 136 565 573 607 461 62 430 403 363 426 434 870 265 298 321 122 189 0 November December January February March April May June July August September October November December
French Hosp. Damascus Italian Hosp. Damascus French Hosp. Aleppo Total Total French Hosp. Damascus 5.457 Total Italian Hosp. Damascus 7.065
Total French Hosp. Aleppo 3.236 12 General Comparison / Treatments
4000 3732
3500
3000 2450 2500
2000 1636 1565 1415 1476 1500 1046 1000 603 466 500 248 132 0 French Hosp. Damascus Italian Hosp. Damascus French Hosp. Aleppo Total 3 Hospitals Free Clinic Surgery Hospitalization Other
32% 33% Total Free Clinic 5.187 Total Surgery 4.537 Hospitalization 983 6% Total Other (X-RAY, Laboratory, IP) 5.051 29%
Free Clinic Surgery Hospitalization Other 13 Gender division
12000
10000 9609 39%
8000 61% 6149 6000
4460
4000 3378 Male Female 2605 2079 1771 2000 1465 Total Male 6.149 Total Female 9.609 0 French Hosp. Damascus Italian Hosp. Damascus French Hosp. Aleppo Total
Male Female
14 Age groups comparison
3000
2679
2500 2296
2000
1635
1500 1440 1230
960 1000 810 823 669 609 621 555 500 385 197 216 216 119 88 117 34 59 0 0 to 5 6 to 14 15 to 18 19 to 35 36 to 50 51 to 70 +71
French Hosp. Damascus Italian Hops. Damascus French Hosp. Aleppo
15 Number and percentage of patients per age group 350, 2% 2113, 13% 859, 5% 392, 3%
2155, 14%
6415, 41% 3474, 22%
0 to 5 6 to 14 15 to 18 19 to 35 36 to 50 51 to 70 +71
16 Open Hospitals
In the period between November 2017 and December 2018, over 15.700 medical care services have been provided to patients identified as poor in the three hospitals.
Among the many praiseworthy initiatives promoted by you, I would like to mention the great work this year to support the return of Christian communities to the Nineveh plain in Iraq, and the health care provided to so many poor people in Syria, in particular through the project "Open Hospitals".
Address of the Holy Father Francis to the participants at the working meeting on the crisis in Syria and the neighboring countries Vatican City, September 14 2018
17 AVSI Foundation 20158 Milano – Via Legnone, 4 – Italy Tel + 39 02 6749881 Fax +39 0267490056 [email protected] 47521 Cesena (FC) Via Padre Vicinio da Sarsina, 216 – Italy Tel +39 0547360 811 Fax +39 0547611290 [email protected]