EMERGENCY ONG ONLUS is an independent and neutral organisation founded in 1994 with two objectives: to guarantee free and high-quality healthcare to victims of war, landmines, and poverty and, at the same time, to promote a culture of peace, solidarity, and respect for human rights.
EMERGENCY plans, constructs and manages hospitals with a long-term
perspective to offer free and effective treatment to whoever needs it. In emergencies,
it organises specific missions in support of pre-existing hospitals, and contribute
towards their reconstruction and equipment.
EMERGENCY believes that medical treatment is a fundamental human right and should be recognised as such for every individual. In order for treatment to be truly and universally accessible, it must be completely free, and in order to be effective it must be of high quality.
Principles:
EMERGENCY’s humanitarian activities around the world are always carried out in collaboration with local authorities. It is a distinctive characteristic of the organisation’s intervention methods, whose goal is not to replace national health services – where they are present and functioning – but to integrate with them.
The ultimate objective of EMERGENCY’s work is always for local governments to take responsibility, as well as the integration of its various activities into the economic and social fabric of the countries where it operates. EMERGENCY does not operate field hospitals. It both refurbishes and builds permanent hospitals and healthcare centres, in order to guarantee the highest possible level of treatment. The hospitals are beautiful as well as functional, because beauty is a sign of respect and dignity. Its aim is to create an environment that is efficient for its staff to work in and comfortable for its patients, always with a view to the long term, planning to stay in the country until it can hand over to the local authorities. When hiring support staff, the organisation gives precedence to the most disadvantaged in society: it gives widows, amputees and war victims the chance to be independent and earn a living.
Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery, Khartoum, Sudan
Surgical Centre for War Victims, Lashkar-Gah, Afghanistan
From 1994 to 2020, EMERGENCY worked in 18 different countries. In 2020, specifically, it is active in Afghanistan, Iraq, Italy, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Eritrea and Uganda. From 1994 to 2020, it treated over 11 million people worldwide.
Involvement in PANDORA
EMERGENCY is currently researching antimicrobial resistance inside EMERGENCY facilities in Sudan, in strict collaboration with the National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani and with WP3 partners.