Le fil de l’Espoir #20: “West Africa: training the pediatric surgeons of tomorrow”.

Where we’re needed

For three decades, La Chaîne de l’Espoir has worked tirelessly to serve those most in need, responding to the emergency appeals and needs of children and families around the world. As we celebrate our 30th anniversary, our determination to save lives and provide quality care remains as strong as ever.

Last May, the first children underwent open-heart surgery in Madagascar. Because we cannot bring ourselves to see children die for lack of access to care, Madagascar has become the seventh country where we have helped to launch open-heart surgery. This is the subject of our report in this magazine (see p. 8).

In Afghanistan, despite a difficult context, we remain mobilized at the Institut Médical Français pour la Mère et l’Enfant (IMFE). We are stepping up our action in favor of women and children, responding to growing demand which has led us to carry out a record number of operations.

In Ukraine, where war has been raging since February 2022, we are now actively involved in improving the diagnosis of childhood heart disease (see p. 14). Building on our experience in Ukraine, we have also extended our training courses in wartime and crisis medicine to Armenian healthcare professionals, in response to the tense situation on the border with Azerbaijan (read p. 21).

Improving access to healthcare also means preparing the pediatric surgeons of tomorrow. For the past ten years, we have been contributing to the training of pediatric surgeons in West Africa as part of the Diplôme d’études spécialisées en chirurgie pédiatrique (DES-CP) program (see p. 16). These future surgeons will help train the next generation of doctors and improve access to healthcare in their home countries. Their training is essential if we are to continue our work and guarantee a better future for thousands of children.

It’s thanks to your mobilization and your donations that we can continue this mission. Together, we have saved lives, restored hope and built chains of solidarity around the world. Thank you for your unwavering support. It’s thanks to you and with you that we can continue to be there where we’re needed.