Italy brings its scientific excellence to Libya. And it does so with an academic medical mission promoted by the Unicamillus University, the DiLiegro Polyclinic and the Emergency Medicine & Support Center (EMSC), a Libyan medical unit also active abroad in humanitarian missions. Thanks to the supervision of Muhannad Younes, Libyan ambassador in Italy, and Dr. Nasseraddin Azetouni diplomatic health adviser of the Libyan consulate in Milan, the agreement signed in Tripoli on 15 July has strengthened the relationship between the two countries united since from antiquity. For years, thanks to the work of Professor Mungo of the Di Liegro Polyclinic who in recent months has been the protagonist together with his team of a unique intervention in the world in Tripoli, Rome and the Libyan capital have been in contact to build a strong health network made up of scientific doctors and, now, also with an academic training path. In the presence of the Minister of Health Ramadan Abu Jinnah, representatives of the Italian embassy and in front of the students who will begin the master course “Trauma from the first emergency to late outcomes”, the details of an educational program were presented forerunner to other initiatives between Libya and Italy. In fact, there are several cooperation projects in the pipeline.
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THE FACULTY’ – The rector Gianni Profita presented the details of the course from the conference room of the Radisson Blue in Tripoli: «In thanking the Libyan and Italian medical and scientific authorities, UniCamillus is here to demonstrate that medicine and research are an important instrument of international cooperation.
Our activity in the world allows us to look optimistically at this collaboration with the Emergency Medicine & Support Center and the Policlinico Di Liegro». An important commitment for the Roman health facility, an impetus pushed by the delegation that arrived in Tripoli with Prof. Massimiliano Mungo (Head of the surgery department); Guido Lanzara (Health Director Clinical Risk Manager); Prof. Giorgio De Toma (Scientific Head of the Surgery Department and Ordinary General Surgery); Prof. Giovanni Viceconte (Interventional Gastroenterology Consultant and Full Professor of Surgical Endoscopy); Prof. Carlo De Biase (Head of orthopedics department) and Guido Viceconte (Gastroenterologist and Endoscopist).
THE DOCTORS – «This is a great opportunity to explain how this is a point of arrival, if we look at the many years of activity here in Libya, but also a starting point for all Libyan patients. I have been here since 2012 – explains Prof. Mungo – with many missions we have known a reality that has highlighted the critical issues of a country at war but also the potential linked to the young doctors I had the opportunity to meet and with whom I started a professional career but, let me tell you, also human». Dr. Sondos Bashir Amhimmid Durdor general surgery doctor joined her Italian colleagues in surgery operations related in particular to patients injured during the conflict: «Working with Prof. Mungo has allowed me to grow professionally, for us Libyan doctors these are important opportunities which allow us to be ever more helpful to the people of our country”.
L’EMSC – Tareg Abdulsalam Mohamed Alhamshri, head of the Emergency Medicine & Support Center, explained the work of his organization which covers the local health network with great commitment in very often critical conditions: «Our three main missions are immediate relief with the our ambulances, care for war wounded and emergency treatment in the event of earthquakes and natural disasters”. The EMSC, also involved in relief efforts in Turkey after the earthquake in early 2023, was one of the promoters of this partnership with the Italian doctors: “Thanks to our experience and that of our Italian colleagues, we have worked to create a strong health network in Libya as well, so as to reduce the trips of patients abroad. Through this meeting, we want to put into practice all the steps of the training aspect and postgraduate studies to make the doctors’ skills more and more specialized”.
THE COURSE – Prof. De Toma, who was officially awarded during the Tripoli event, went into detail about the UniCamillus course that the students are already attending: «It is a master dedicated to trauma, it is a unique opportunity to begin this type of scientific didactic report together with 20 Libyan doctors who will be sponsored internationally. I have the impression that important things can arise from this conference in a short time».