Institutions, experts and volunteers discussed the challenges of humanitarian medicine and the need for a more resilient global health system.
The conference, entitled ‘Humanitarian Medicine: An Italian Response for the Future‘ was held at the UniCamillus Auditorium in Rome. Attended by leading international institutional representatives, experts and humanitarian volunteers, the event provided an important opportunity to explore the role of humanitarian medicine in addressing global emergencies and building sustainable health resilience.
Crises redefine global health
Global health crises are diverse and interconnected. Among the most serious is the refugee crisis, with millions of people fleeing conflicts without adequate health care. Climate change is also worsening the situation, exacerbating extreme events such as floods and heatwaves, causing forced migration and spreading infectious diseases. Pandemics remain a threat, as shown by COVID-19, which has weakened global health systems, while new infections raise fears. In addition, food insecurity, also exacerbated by conflict and climate, is a major cause of malnutrition and vulnerability. Humanitarian medicine is becoming essential, not just as an emergency response, but as an investment in the future.
Humanitarian medicine: what it means to be a doctor
“Medical practitioners make a difference when they work in a humanitarian context. I am proud that UniCamillus University, with its international and humanitarian vocation, contributes to raising awareness in this regard”, said Gianni Profita, Rector of UniCamillus, who opened the conference. A vocation that is often taken for granted, but it should not. Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, underlined that “wars and selfishness today are globalised, so the challenge of humanitarian medicine is to save us all, starting from the weakest”. This can only be done by joining forces, said Cristiano Camponi, Director General of the Italian National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty (NIHMP), an Italian NHS body: “Institutions, third sector organisations, universities: everyone can contribute to putting the patient at the centre, taking into account their physical health as well as their human, psychological and social characteristics”.
Considering the patient as a human being is what makes medicine ‘humanitarian’ and it is “the most beautiful part of this profession, because it is a vocation and you save your neighbour’s life without expecting financial gain”, said Professor Donatella Padua, Delegate of the UniCamillus Third Mission.
The next speaker was Massimo Gravante, lecturer in Dermatology and General Parasitology at UniCamillus. The video of his missions in Benin moved the audience as he spoke of the difficult conditions of leprosy, albinism and malaria, even in very young children: “In any humanitarian mission, it is essential to respect the dignity of the local population, both in terms of religious beliefs and cultural orientation”.
Missions in the world: a debate with experts
The round table was moderated by Vincenzo Morgante, journalist and director of TV2000 and Radio InBlu, who underlined the appeal of the University’s Third Mission as “an element of connection between teaching, research and social service, for the common good”.
This was followed by guest presentations from charitable organisations. Andrea Accardi, Programmes Advisor of Intersos, described a dramatic scenario: “The number of armed conflicts in the world has increased significantly: in 2009 there were 17 of them in 16 political contexts, while today we have 50 countries living in a state of conflict. The spotlight is on the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan”. It is challenging to deal with these situations: the number of emergencies is increasing; money is scarce and it is difficult to wait for official international institutions to intervene. And it is these institutions that Emergency, whose medical department is headed by surgeon Dr Maurizio Cardi, turns to: “In the areas where we intervene, we want to make the local institutions responsible so that everyone can have free access to the best care”.
Not only to intervene, but also to build resilience. This is what Francesca Toppetti, Director General of Emergenza Sorrisi ETS, emphasises: “As an NGO, we operate on children with acquired or congenital facial deformities in 23 countries, but that is not enough. To enable local health care to be independent, we need to transfer skills to medical professionals in the countries we work with: we have trained 700 of them until now”.
The well-being of children is the goal of Telefono Azzurro Onlus, represented at the round table by Michele Riondino, who is in charge of children’s rights. “Since 1987, the year in which Telefono Azzurro Onlus was founded, the number of calls from minors has increased, especially after COVID-19. In the case of the youngest children, the greatest need is psychological, and there is no health where there is no mental health”, he explained, reiterating the importance of the youngest children’s right to be heard.
The key words then are professionalism, but also a big heart, to truly understand patients in their most defenceless and beautiful sense as human beings.
As Fabrizio Frinolli Puzzilli, President of AMKA, urged, “those who go on humanitarian missions must be prepared, not only from a professional point of view, but also from a human one”.
UniCamillus and the humanitarian mission
UniCamillus, with the support of its Third Mission, has for years promoted voluntary health work as a training tool for professionals capable of responding to the needs of the most vulnerable communities. Thanks to the commitment of its students and lecturers, many of whom are already actively involved in humanitarian missions, as in the case of Gravante, UniCamillus is helping to build a generation of medical professionals prepared to intervene in the world’s most critical areas.
The Humanitarian Medicine conference was the first in a series of conferences entitled ‘Horizons of Medicine: where science meets communities‘, organised by the UniCamillus Third Mission, with Donatella Padua as scientific director.
