Project Health CV intends to expand missions to other islands

The information was provided to Inforpress by the operations director, Elizabeth Moreira, explaining that in 2023 the project managed to reach its twentieth mission in the country and that this year, they carried out three missions in Cape Verde, where the last one was in November, thus culminating , with a total of 96 clinical interventions and 33 surgical interventions on the islands of Santiago and Brava.

Taking into account that the objective of the project is not just limited to medical activities, the director also said that they managed to send two 20-foot and one 40-foot containers to Cape Verde, costing more than two million dollars, with medical equipment and surgical.

Likewise, Elizabeth Moreira highlighted that the project remained “focused” on the process of education and training of clinicians in the archipelago, whose objective is to train Cape Verdean staff, and create material conditions so that they can begin to carry out interventions that have been targets for medical transfers abroad.

With these interventions in Cape Verde, he explained that the country's costs in this regard will be minimized and, consequently, the list of patients waiting for treatments abroad will be reduced.

In a specific case, he pointed to the area of urology, stating that the team has worked with national urologists and carried out several laser interventions, an equipment that the project offered to the country, and which has several advantages, including the minimization of post-infection infections. and reduces surgical complications.

Furthermore, in the balance of the year 2023, he reported that the group brought an oncologist surgeon, with clinical and surgical interventions being carried out on cancer patients who were on the waiting list for international transfer, in order to carry out these procedures.

Another highlight for this project, according to the director, was the presence of the mayor of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Donald Grebien, in the last Project Health CV mission, carried out to the archipelago in November 2023.

On this visit, Donald Grebien met with the President of the Republic, but also with several mayors on the island of Santiago, thus affirming his commitment to continue supporting the project, in addition to intending to visit other islands in future missions.

And for 2024, Elizabeth Moreira highlighted that the project will continue with its missions, and they are working to make them more frequent, albeit with reduced groups of specialists, reinforcing that the focus is on the islands where they are already used to working, but also return to the island of Fogo where they only carried out one mission.

Also, he informed that there is a group of volunteers who have already shown interest in carrying out missions to the island of São Nicolau.

Elizabeth Moreira recalled that the members are all volunteers, taking the opportunity to thank everyone involved and reaffirm the commitment to always work to do what they can and when they can “for the good of the health of Cape Verdeans”.

Regarding the actions for 2024, he also said that they will continue to carry out fundraising activities for the organization and to send more equipment to Cape Verde, as well as continue with the money-raising campaign to obtain an ambulance that will also be sent to the country.

Finally, he thanked all the clinicians and members of the administration and Government who have always collaborated with the project and who have allowed the team to have information about the needs, challenges and difficulties of the hospital structures that have developed actions, and thus the project has been support in the most appropriate way.

According to this person in charge, since 2009 the project began its missions to Cape Verde, but they only achieved non-profit organization status in 2015 and since its foundation it has worked to improve health in Cape Verde and act mainly in the protection and treatment of families and children at risk.