Italian Cooperation - Gerusalemme

NEWSLETTER n.8Health: Medicine for PeaceJoint effort to save Palestinian childrenSaving Palestinian children - Medicine in the Service for Peaceproject, entered its operative phase. The program is the result ofa shared initiative based on the collaboration of the Italian Government,Italian Local Authorities and Palestinian and Israeli civil societyorganizations.The Directorate General for Cooperation and Development(DGCS) of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs approved inSeptember 2007 the contribution of €2.850.000 to the total costof the project amounting to Euro 5.7 million. The objective ofthis endeavor is to offer the Palestinian children affected by severediseases access to high qualified therapeutic treatmentscurrently not available within the Palestinian Public Healthstructures.The project is promoted and contributed by the Italian Region Tuscany,in cooperation with the Regions Emilia Romagna, Friuli VeneziaGiulia and Umbria. The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) endorsedthe program operated by a qualitative partnership between anetwork of Palestinian and Israeli pediatricians and sub-specialists,coordinated and facilitated by two NGOs counterparts in the Project:Palestinian Panorama Centre and the Israeli Peres Center forPeace.The direct consequences of the current situation on the Palestinianpopulation and especially on Palestinian children are well documentedparticularly when personal and real tragedies in the life of a childare worsened by serious pathologies such as congenital defects andlife threatening diseases, that further limit prospects for a future normallife. The main commitment of all the stakeholders involved inthis initiative responds to one single noble cause: giving Palestinianchildren a chance to be healed.The initiative Saving Children-Medicine in the service for Peacehas its origins in a previous successful experience implementedin 2003 by the Tuscany Region together with the Peres Center forPeace and a group of Palestinian pediatricians. Over 4000 babiesand children were referred for complex treatment and rehabilitationprocedures unavailable in Palestinian public hospitals.Besides tangibly improving the quality of life of Palestinian childrenand enhancing the sustainability of local health systems, the programalso creates direct continuous working relationship betweenPalestinian and Israeli civil societies.The two NGO partners set up a task force dedicated to the managementof this initiative. Their mission is to identify and refer childrenwith urgent medical needs not obtainable in the Palestinianpublic hospitals to available medical facilities and pediatricspecialized centers either in Palestinian private clinics, EastJerusalem NGOs health centers or in Israel and neighboringCountries. The task force is also in charge of coordinating with Palestinianand Israeli institutions, logistic aspects (permits, transportations,etc) and financial arrangements with the receiving hospitals,assuring the follow-up, medical reporting and communication withreferring health specialists. A Steering Committee composed of representativesof the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italian Regions,Panorama and Peres Center for Peace will monitor and evaluate theresults of the project.Pag. 11