September 17, 2024 | 12.52
READING TIME: 2 minutes
“For several years now, our doctors and our specialists have been going to Africa. However, we wanted to institutionalize this partnership because we believe, and we have seen it happen, that when our doctors have the opportunity to spend a few months in contexts where there is nothing but health and respect for the patient, they return home very enriched. This is, in my opinion, what counts for a vocational profession such as that of a doctor, nurse or midwife”. This was stated by the rector of the University of Milan-Bicocca, Giovanna Iannantuoni, today at the presentation of Bridge (Bicocca research and innovation for development and global health)-Uganda, the new project of the Milanese university in the district of Gulu in northern Uganda.
“Today – continues the rector – is a very special day because we are talking about internationalization, the national health system and medicine. In a context in which, in our country, we reflect on the number of doctors and nurses and the quality of the National Health Service, for us it is very important to spread this quality not only in our country, but also in one of the most fragile areas at an international level. This is the case of northern Uganda, one of the areas with the greatest economic and social fragility at a global level”. This is the second outpost abroad of the Milanese university, after the ‘MaRhe Center’ in the Maldives archipelago, a research and training center dedicated to marine biology studies. Fundamental outposts for Milano-Bicocca because, explains Iannantuoni, “we think that the excellence we have, on the one hand that of sustainability and ecology and on the other that of medicine, must find their meaning where they are a priority in the daily lives of the people who live there”.
The Bridge-Uganda outpost is part of the Bicocca Global Health Center project, which involves all the university’s professionals in the development of innovative and sustainable solutions to address global health challenges through a multidisciplinary approach and to promote health and well-being in low- and middle-income countries. The training network of the Milanese university, which already includes excellent hospitals such as San Gerardo, Papa Giovanni, Niguarda and many others, is therefore also expanding to the Lacor Hospital in Uganda, “a place where doctors, midwives, nurses, specialists and our medical students in the last 2 years can enjoy a fundamental training moment. It is also important to underline that we will train specialist doctors on site, which is necessary – concludes the rector – in a territory as difficult as Uganda”.
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