WHAT WE DO

1. Development Projects

• Basic Health projects: Consistent with the World Health Organization’s strategy and goals, AISPO supports and enhances district health systems by supporting the implementation of national health programs.
• Support to General Hospitals: AISPO supported the Beni Messur Hospital in Algeria; the Lacor Hospital in Gulu and Nsambya, Uganda; the Ramallah, Beit Jalla Jenin Hospital in the Palestinian Territories; and the General and Pediatric Hospitals in Herat, Afghanistan.  AISPO has also supported the Delek Hospital in Dharamsala, India where a Mother and Child department was built and made operational.
• Support to Highly Specialized Hospitals: AISPO has aided and enhanced a number of hospitals including the Sao Rafael Hospital of Bahia which upgraded from district Hospital to University Hospital with highly specialized departments; the Indian Spinal Injuries Center in New Delhi which specializes in the care, assistance and rehabilitation of patients with marrow injuries. Today AISPO collaborates with Hué University/Hospital in Vietnam, to build and equip a P3 laboratory (a highly secured lab for virus studies) and an intensive care unit for patients affected by pulmonary pathologies. In addition, AISPO is currently working with the Duhok governatorate in the Kurdistan Autonomous Region to construct a marrow trasplant unit.

2. Projects in emergency/post-emergency contexts

• Emergency due to war: We operate in countries affected by international wars or internal conflicts such as Afghanistan, the Palestinian Territories, Iraq and Sri Lanka. In Uganda we worked at the Gulu Lacor Hospital where we helped amidst the chronic emergency caused by civil war: every night thousands of children came to the hospital looking for shelter. There is a similar situation in South Sudan where AISPO has been operating for many years, both in missionary and in governmental hospitals.
• The conflicts in Syria and Iraq, and escalation of ISIS’s violence, has brought the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ attention to the Kurdistan Region where AISPO operates to enhance health services- especially emergency services. As millions of refugees and internally displaced people seek shelter in Kurdistan (as it is a safer place to live), the health services must meet the needs of a much wider number of patients.
• Emergency due to natural disasters: We worked in Sri Lanka to bring relief to local people after the tsunami, in Afghanistan after the earthquake in 2002 and recently in Mozambique to give support to local people affected by a disastrous flood.
• Emergency due to epidemics: AISPO has experience bringing humanitarian aid to fight the Ebola virus in Uganda in 2001.

3. Training Projects

Training is a consistent activity throughout all AISPO projects

• Local training: On the the job training is carried out by our experts, who impart clinical expertise such as: laboratory diagnostics, prevention and anticipation of cancers which affect women, diagnostical studies and non-invasive therapies such as endo-laparoscopy, transfusion, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and treatment for blood diseases. Seminars, workshops, courses and conferences are frequently organized on the above mentioned medical issues.
• Training in Italy: San Raffaele Hospital hosts health/technical/managerial staff from beneficiary countries. In collaboration with local health authorities, AISPO offers them theoretical and practical training courses and helps manage the logistics and administrative aspects of their trip. AISPO frequently organizes highly specialized courses for medical doctors and nurses in collaboration with San Raffaele University (http://www.unisr.it/ ) or other Universities, such as the University of Sassari and the University of Naples.

Another very important aspect is the assessment of training needs

• AISPO sends Italian experts on site to evaluate the training needs together with the candidate and counterparties.
• Analysis and measurement by the beneficiary institution’s leaders are kept very much in consideration as they are directly related to the project’s final goal, which is the up-grading of the health service concerned.
• Training activities may involve several people from the same health service, but with different responsibilities (medical doctors, professors, nurses, technical staff, engineers).
• At any time, the originally planned training programs can be modified to meet the specific training needs of students and local authorities.

In short AISPO can offer:

1. Expertise and technical assistance to health authorities for the elaboration of strategic development plans for health systems at local, district and national levels.

2. Expertise and technical assistance to health authorities for the elaboration of strategic development plans for specific health services (Pediatrics, Oncology, Mother and Child, Hematology).

3. Expertise and technical assistance to health authorities for the elaboration of Master Plan for the development of I, II and III level Health Centres.

4. Expertise and technical assistance to health/hospital authorities for the elaboration and application of SOPs in relation to either Clinical Operative Units and ancillary services (Pharmacy, Storage room, Cleanings).

5. Expertise and technical assistance to health authorities for the identification of training needs of clinical, technical and managerial staff in relation to the above mentioned points.

6. Expertise and technical assistance to teaching staff in order to develop Training services like academic courses, workshops, conferences, seminars, paramedical schools.

7. Expertise and technical assistance to Academics for the development of institutional training courses and classes (Degrees, Masters, Post-graduation courses), in collaboration with Italian excellence Health Centres (e.g. Saint Raffaele Hospital/University) and with local partners AISPO develops Research Protocol on issues of particular interest for the beneficiary country.