On July 22nd, card. Peter K. A. Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for promoting integral human development, together with the undersecretary of the Dicastery, fr. Nicola Riccardi, visited the Italian and French hospitals in Damascus where AVSI implements the Open Hospitals project.
They were accompanied by card. Mario Zenari, apostolic nuncio in Syria, who had the opportunity to illustrate the project, present the structures involved, meet the beneficiaries and show the equipment purchased.
After meeting the staff of the two hospitals, card. Zenari described the general situation in Syria, highlighting the needs of the people involved in the conflict and affected by the severe economic crisis.
The main objective of Open Hospitals is to ensure free access to medical treatment for Syrians in poor conditions, through the strengthening of three non-profit hospitals. As of July 15, the project has already provided more than 24.000 free treatments to poor Syrians and it aims to reach 50.000 within 2020.