Project Adopt a Children’s Hospital - Pediatric Outpatient’s Department ‘Haz Haz’  

Project Title
Adapt a Children’s Hospital - Pediatric Outpatient’s Department Haz Haz  

Proposer
Annulliamo la Distanza Onlus  

Place of Operation
Asmara, Eritrea  

Participants
Annlliamo la Distanza Onlus in collaboration with the Eritrean government’s Ministry of Health  

Project Length
1 year  

The Context
The current state of children’s health is one of the primary emergencies of this country, as it is in all developing countries.  Every year millions of children under the age of 5 die in this country, and 7 out of 10 of these deaths are linked to five pathologies that can be prevented or cured with relative ease: pulmonary infections, diarrhea, malaria, measles, malnutrition or a combination of these problems. The number of HIV positivechildren is also quickly growing.

Annulliamo la Distanza has already carried out some important cooperative operations in the area of pediatric health, the first among these being the renovations of the Mekane Hiwet of Asmara Pediatric Hospital’s Emergency Room, in collaboration with the Eritrean government’s Ministry of Health, and the Bambini Meyer Hospital in Florence, with the support of the Region of Tuscany, which produced important outcomes that are recognized by both the population and the sanitary authorities of the country. The opportunity has recently arisen to support these projects with a new intervention that favors a smaller hospital, in which the pediatric ward will be expanded and a new pediatric Outpatient’s Department will be constructed.

This is the Haz Haz hospital, which will have more modest dimensions and will provide medical services to both children and adults.  It is situated on a beautiful hill on the outskirts of Asmara  and was developed as a series of low standing buildings that house the various wards; the internal structure is currently in need of significant reconstruction. 

The pediatric ward has an outpatient’s department as well a ward for the treatment of inpatients, which currently contains 30 beds. Following the closing of the surgery ward, which has now been transferred to the Central Hospital in Orotta, the concrete opportunity exists to expand the pediatric ward by making use of the free space, and the Hospital’s Department of Health Management is determined to expand the pediatric inpatient ward, passing from 30 to 60-70 beds, and seeks to construct a new pediatric outpatient’s department according to the regulations of the I.M.C.I. (Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses).

The I.M.C.I. is an integrated sanitary approach to the improvement of health conditions for children between the ages of 0-5, which even today is an age group that has a high mortality rate.

This approach, which was developed by the World Health Organization (W.H.O) in collaboration with UNICEF, supplies the operative and organizational instructions for the efficient and integrated management of the diagnoses, prevention, treatment, information and education relative to the 5 primary, infantile pathologies cited above.  For more information: http://www.who.int/child-adolescent-health/integr.htm  

The Project
The pediatric ward of the Haz Haz hospital currently functions with a full staff and a quick turnover rate. The average period of confinement in the hospital is 3-5 days.  The majority of the hospital stays are taken by children with respiratory problems (pulmonary infections, asthma, etc.), diarrhea and, less frequently, malnutrition and its associated complications.

The outpatient’s department currently has 2 visiting rooms, located in different parts of the hospital.  The first is used for children above the age of 5 and accepts and treats circa 10-15 patients a day.  The second, in which the majority of the action is concentrated, is the pediatric treatment room for children under the age of 5, which supplies services to about 35-40 children a day. These facilities are deeply inadequate; they are too small, have insufficient ventilation and are poorly equipped. 

The children’s waiting room is in the open, in an area that is very exposed.   The objective for the reconstruction and the renovation of a part of the hospital, which is shared with the Department of Health Management, is thus to achieve: The construction of a new, fully equipped pediatric outpatient’s ward that will permit the efficient and rapid diagnosis of the most critical pediatric pathologies, prevention and vaccination for diseases, the administration of the appropriate medical and pharmaceutical therapies, re-hydration, the reception of the children and their mothers in an environment that is serene and appropriate to the situation, and will consent the mothers to be informed and educated about hygienic problems, vaccination, nutrition, and disease prevention that is in keeping with the recommendations of the I.M.C.I. The expansion of the pediatric ward structure, with double the number of beds.  

The project is divided into 3 areas of operation:  

• The completion of masonry work according to the project that has been drafted from the technical structures of the Eritrean Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the hospital’s Department of Health Management and with the cooperation of Annulliamo la Distanza.
  
• The full furnishing of the Pediatric Outpatients’ Ward and the waiting and reception Room according to the project prepared by the hospital’s Department of Health Management, which provides for the issue of:
• Electric stoves, emergency lights for use in the case of an electrical interruption
• Furniture for the Outpatient Ward, the waiting room and the reception areas
• Games for children’s entertainment in the waiting room, a seesaw, a slide and other structures to furnish an outdoor playground for children, a TV and a VCR.
  
• Clothes and pajamas for mothers and their children.  
• Medical equipment for the Outpatients’ Department (including oxygen machines,            glucometers, atomizers, electrical suction machines and oxygen monitors), computers and printers.  
  
  The formative activities of the construction will then be planned on the basis of the I.M.C.I. approach.  The budget for the executive project breaks down as such:  
  
  
• Masonry work                    € 10.000,00
• Furnishings                        € 8.000,00
• Supplies                            € 20.000,00
• TOTAL                               € 38.000,00  

General Objective
The general objective is to guarantee basic health standards to children, which other than being one of their fundamental rights, are indispensable to the construction of the culture of peace and non violence that is necessary for the future of this country. 

These requisite conditions can be achieved through an effort toward effective diagnoses and care, but also and most importantly through the preventative education of mothers and families.  

Specific objective of the operation
The project aims for the integration of the work carried out by Annulliamo la Distanza beginning in January of 2002, which sought to give the Mekane Hiwet pediatric hospital the highest level of autonomy and operational capacity possible.

The construction of an Outpatients’ Department in a decentralized structure will contribute to the augmentation of the reception and care capacity and will ultimately come closer to meeting the most demanding needs of the country. According to the outline that has already been experimentally applied with apparent success in the operations that have thus far been completed, Annulliamo la Distanza will directly follow the progression of the project together with the local counterparts

• maintaining close relations with the local health authorities and availing itself with the specialized support of Italian hospital structures
• with the objective of guaranteeing the timely completion of the construction and the quality of production that was initially intended for the project, as well as the initiation and gestation of the activity and the subsequent maintenance of the structures.

Supervision and monitoring of the project
Annulliamo la Distanza will maintain continual relations with the Eritrean doctors and the doctors of the Meyer pediatric hospital of Florence, whom periodically travel to Eritrea with the volunteers of Annulliamo la Distanza to monitor the progression of the work and to assist with the onsite construction by means of specialized courses in the management of the structure.  

Project Leader
Enrico Bosisio Tel +39 335 6322920  info@annulliamoladistanza.com  

To adhere to
Annual quota: € 300,00
Biannual quota: € 150,00
Optional quota   

Payment Method:

• Postal checking account n. 22166508 made payable to Annulliamo la Distanza Onlus, reason for payment: ‘Adotto un Ospedale Pediatrico’
  
  IBAN: IT75D0760102800000022166508
  
  
• Banking checking account n.  926 c/o Cassa di Risparmio di Prato - Agenzia di Firenze CAB 02800 ABI 06020 CIN P,
  
  IBAN: IT10P0602002800048570000926

reason for payment: ‘Adotto un Ospedale Pediatrico’

Direct online deposit on the web site made with a credit card for ‘Adotto un Ospedale Pediatrico’