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Prix Littré de l’Essai 2024 awarded to Pr Alain Deloche
The Groupement des Écrivains Médecins (GEM) has awarded the Prix Littré de l'Essai 2024 to Professor Alain Deloche for his book "Médecin du Cœur, 50 ans d'Engagement Sans Frontières". The prize recognizes a poignant account of half a century of humanitarian medicine, written by a man whose commitment has changed the lives of thousands of children around the world.
A testimony from the heart of humanitarian aid
In this book, Professor Alain Deloche looks back on his early days as a surgeon and his involvement with the “French doctors”, pioneers of modern humanitarian medicine. Co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières and Médecins du Monde, he recounts the challenges of his first interventions in the field.
Throughout these pages, he also recalls the birth of La Chaîne de l’Espoir, a humanitarian association he founded in 1994 with a clear mission: to provide access to surgical care for children in underprivileged countries.
La Chaîne de l’Espoir, 30 years ofcommitment without borders
Today, La Chaîne de l’Espoir, true to its DNA, continues this fight against the injustice of place of birth with the same determination. Thanks to a network of volunteer surgeons, the association has saved thousands of children with heart defects, either by operating on them in their country of origin, or by transferring them to partner hospitals in France and, more recently, Spain.
In a particularly moving passage, Professor Alain Deloche evokes Afghanistan and the tragic birth of little Amina:
” A symbol of all the horrors of war, I’ll always remember Amina, the little Afghan girl. In Kabul, on Tuesday May 12, 2020, Dasht-e-Barchi hospital was in full swing. Labor rooms were busy delivering babies, while elsewhere patients were coughing and suffocating from Covid. At around 10 a.m., a van pulled up near the entrance and three uniformed “policemen” got out, almost immediately firing in all directions, killing two guards. This was only the beginning of a horrific carnage.
On the first floor, a woman was giving birth to her second child. Two terrorists shot her in the stomach, killing the mother and her unborn baby in one fell swoop. After throwing grenades into several rooms, they entered a bedroom where a newborn baby lay in its cradle. They did not fire. The baby was allowed to live.
On the second floor, Assia hid behind her bed, holding her little Amina, born just five hours earlier. Two men entered the room and fired a hail of bullets at the mother and baby, then turned away, no doubt satisfied with the job done… This abomination lasted three hours before the terrorists were gunned down. The appalling toll: 25 dead, including 16 mothers, 1 midwife, 2 children aged 7 and 8, and 6 other people, visitors or care assistants.
A commander of the Afghan forces went up to the second floor of the maternity ward and found Assia dead at the foot of her bed, and the baby Amina. She was wounded, but alive… She was immediately evacuated to our hospital.
Najeebullah Bina, our surgeon, had been alerted by telephone and had prepared the operating theatre, while the ambulance made its way through the roadblocks and checkpoints. Amina, now eighteen hours old, was examined. The X-ray revealed a shattered left femur, and the left foot was ice-cold. Najeebullah suspected femoral artery damage, as the leg had lost its blood supply.
The entire surgical team set to work and succeeded in repairing the destroyed artery. Blood circulation was restored, the foot warmed up and regained its color. The femur remained: surgery could not be attempted. It was decided to place a plaster cast on the bone, realigning it with its natural alignment.
The baby was then admitted to intensive care. Surgeons, doctors, secretaries, guards, orderlies, everyone came to see Amina, rocked Amina, cuddled Amina.
Within a few days, the little girl’s condition improved. A few weeks later, the femur fracture had healed, and the little girl was already smiling… Today, she’s growing up well, surrounded by her father and family. “
Recently, in Madagascar, we contributed to a historic medical first with the first open-heart operations in a newly renovated pediatric cardiac surgery center equipped by La Chaîne de l’Espoir. A major step forward for access to healthcare on the Big Island!
An award for exceptional commitment
The award of the Prix Littré is the crowning achievement of Pr Alain Deloche’s extraordinary humanitarian career. Far from being a simple autobiography, “Médecin du Coeur” is more like a plea for sustainable humanitarian medicine, a call for solidarity and commitment.
By honoring his work, the Prix Littré highlights the importance of the actions undertaken for over fifty years to provide care for the most vulnerable. An essential book, to be read and shared, so that this chain of borderless solidarity continues.
Order your copy of “Médecin du Cœur, 50 ans d’Engagement Sans Frontières”: https: //www.lisez.com/livres/medecin-du-coeur-50-ans-dengagement-sans-frontieres/9782749174532
