The African Network of Medical Excellence meeting to launch Wednesday in Khartoum

<span;>With the Participants of 14 African countries ….

<span;>The African Network of Medical Excellence meeting to launch Wednesday in Khartoum

<span;>By: Staff Writer

<span;> Representatives of health institutions belonging to 14 African countries (Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Niger, Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Zimbabwe) will take part in the African Network of Medical Excellence (ANME) meeting organised by the international humanitarian organisation EMERGENCY and the Federal Ministry of Health of Sudan.

<span;>On 1st and 2nd February, EMERGENCY’s Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery, Soba Hilla (Khartoum), and al-Salam Hotel, Africa Road (Khartoum), will host the two-day conference where representatives of EMERGENCY, the Federal Ministry of Health  and of 13 African countries will discuss the successful examples of EMERGENCY’s Medical Centres of Excellence, operating in Sudan and Uganda with the support of local governments, and consider future steps and decisions.On 29 January, Rossella Miccio, president of EMERGENCY, and Dr Heitham Mohamed Awadallah, Sudanese Minister of Health, spoke at a press conference in the Conference Hall of the Federal Ministry of Health of Sudan to announce “On 1st and 2nd February the African Network of Medical Excellence meeting will take place  in Khartoum, with fourteen countries reunited here for the sixth gathering of the network founded by EMERGENCY NGO to discuss the importance of free healthcare access, high quality treatments, specialistic training –

<span;>Dr. Heitham Mohamed Awadallah, Federal Minister of Health, said – Reflecting the successful experience of ANME in Sudan we would like other countries to be encouraged to join the network, and health cooperation between neighbouring countries to root in the following years”.“Emerging from our Manifesto for a Human Rights-Based Medicine (2008), ANME promotes the beliefs that every human being has a right to be treated without discrimination, and that governments consider the health and wellbeing of their citizens a priority” .

<span;> Rossella Miccio, president of EMERGENCY explained – “The ANME healthcare model has two guiding principles: free healthcare, and medical excellence guaranteeing high clinical standards and promotes the training of qualified healthcare professionals, researching development and local healthcare systems.

<span;>The successful experience of Salam Centre in Khartoum, which has just overtaken the goal of 10,000 surgical interventions and where every year we’re able to train promising specialists, has led us to give life to Children’s Surgical Hospital in Entebbe, and now the exchange of young professionals between the two centres has become an extremely successful practice.

<span;>The African Network of Medical Excellence (ANME) was established by EMERGENCY in 2010. So far, 11 African countries (Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda) have joined the initiative, which seeks to build a chain of exemplary healthcare facilities that will meet specific medical needs continent-wide. EMERGENCY’s Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery was built in Sudan in 2007. In 2022, the hospital performed its 10,000th surgical operation. Thanks to the Regional Programme, patients from over 30 countries in need of specialized surgery have been referred to the Salam Centre free of charge. The second Centre of Excellence, the Children’s Surgical Hospital, was built in Entebbe, Uganda, and began clinical activities in 2021. Free, high-quality medical treatment represents one component of ANME, which also includes the training of local staff, to ensure that young Sudanese and Ugandan doctors, nurses and specialists can contribute to the improvement of the health systems in their countries. In Salam Centre, for example, 537 members of the staff are Sudanese, while only 47 are international staff.The event will be attended, among others, by Min. Bangirana Anifa Kawooya, Minister of General Duties of Uganda; Min. Ali Haji Adam Abubakar, Minister of Health of Somalia; Min. Abdelmadjid Abdelrahim Mahamat, Minister of Health of Chad; Dr. Amon Murwira, Minister of Education of Zimbabwe.The first day of the event, on 1 February, will take place at the Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery, Soba Hilla, from 10am, with welcome speeches, a tour of the hospital, and speeches from representatives of EMERGENCY, ministers, undersecretaries, and delegates. The second day, 2 February, will take place at al-Salam Hotel, Africa Road, from 10am. At the end of the second day, the conference’s outcomes and closing remarks be shared with journalists during a final press conference, which will take place at 5.30pm.Press registration will be at 9.30am, entering from the main gate of the Salam Centre in Soba.Useful data:Since the year of its opening, in 2007, the Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery in Khartoum, Sudan, has triaged more than 88,000 patients and admitted more than 11,000 people. In 2022, the hospital performed its 10,000th surgical operations: The hospital has performed 10,261 surgeries to date. Since the year of its opening, in 2021, the Children’s Surgical Hospital in Entebbe, Uganda, has performed consultations for around 4,000 patients and admitted almost 2,000. In 2022, 2,000 surgical operations were performed. Since 2007, patients coming from 33 countries (26 are African ones) have been treated in Salam Centre thanks to the Regional Programme: South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Djibouti, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Somalia, Chad, Burundi, Uganda and Eritrea participate in periodic screening missions every year. Over 2,000 patients have been referred to EMERGENCY’s hospital in Sudan.