3 children travel from Liberia to attend the Cuomo Centre in Dakar
On the 13th October 2018, three young Liberian children named Ronel Désiré, Famata and Marthaline, accompanied by relatives will attend the Cuomo Centre for Paediatric Cardiology to undergo life changing medical heart procedures.
This exchange was made possible through the first-time collaborative cooperation between the John F. Kennedy public hospital of Liberia, the Liberian authorities and the Cuomo Centre for Paediatric Cardiology, with the support of La Chaîne de l’Espoir.
In Liberia, 14 years of civil conflict and the 2 years devastating effects of the Ebola outbreak crisis have destroyed the heath care infrastructure and its functioning remains precarious. In May 2018, La Chaîne de l’Espoir undertook an exploratory mission to Liberia and met the local political authorities and the medical management of the JFK public hospital.
In the absence of any operating theatre suitable for the treatment of child pathologies in Liberia, La Chaîne de l’Espoir and the Cuomo Foundation arranged and organised the first transfer of three Liberian children with heart conditions. They will be accompanied by Dr Sia Wata Camanor, paediatrician and Head of the Paediatrics department of the JFK hospital of Monrovia.
The medical procedures will be carried out by the Senegalese team led by Pr Cisse at the Cuomo Centre in Dakar. This Centre of excellence opened as a result of the partnership between the Dakar National Teaching Hospital, the Senegalese authorities, the Cuomo Foundation and La Chaîne de l’Espoir. Equipped with modern technical facilities including two operating theatres and critical intensive care, hospitalization units and consultation rooms, the Centre is a reference for West Africa. Open in 2017 in Dakar, the Cuomo Centre has already additionally treated children travelling from Guinea-Bissau and Mali for heart defects. Today, it contributes to address the deficiencies in the surrounding health systems, and improve the supply of healthcare for disadvantaged children and the training of practitioners in West Africa.
About us
La Chaîne de l’Espoir
Headed by Dr Eric Cheysson and created in 1994 by Pr Alain Deloche, La Chaîne de l’Espoir is a French organisation and a health player committed to give access to healthcare and education to the most destitute children in about 30 countries. Over the years, it has become a network of excellence and medico-surgical expertise engaged in long-term health programs with the objective to provide every country with the means to treat their own population. www.chainedelespoir.org
The Cuomo Foundation
Founded in 2001 in Monaco and chaired by its co-founder Mrs Maria Elena Cuomo since 2009, the Cuomo Foundation is active in the education, social and environment fields. Thousands of vulnerable children and adults in a precarious situation have benefited every day from the infrastructure and services implemented and supported by the Foundation worldwide over the last 17 years. www.fondationcuomo.mc
The John F. Kennedy Medical Centre
It is the only level 3 hospital in Liberia. Built in 1972 in Monrovia, the JFK hospital is known throughout the country as the national referral hospital. It is composed of four institutions: E.S Grant, JFK Memorial Hospital, Liberian Japanese Friendship Maternity Hospital and Tubman National Institute of Medical Arts (TNIMA), a paramedical and nursing school.
Contacts
- Christine Couton : ccouton@chainedelespoir.org
- Paul Nahon : pcnahon@yahoo.fr
- Gilbert Hascouet : ghascoet@chainedelespoir.org - +228 90 39 24 70
- Dakar CCPC - Pr N’Diaye : mondiaye65@gmail.com - Amadou Diop : diop942@yahoo.fr
- JFK Hospital - Dr Sia Wata Camanor : siawatacamanor@gmail.com - +231 8807 1650
