On Monday, February 6, members of the Monaco Collectif Humanitaire, comprising the Monaco Government, associations, health centres and the Monegasque Red Cross, met for their annual meeting.

The results of the Collective are very positive: since the start of the project in 2008, 320 children, the majority from the African continent, have undergone operations in Monaco, mainly cardiac procedures that could not be performed in their countries of origin.

In 2016 alone, this involved 48 children, thanks to the Monaco Collectif Humanitaire (MCH).

Among the very active members of this chain of solidarity are the three partner care centres: the Cardio-Thoracic Centre of Monaco, the Princess Grace Hospital and the Institute of Medicine and Sports Surgery, alongside voluntary organisations including Rencontres Africaines, the Monegasque Red Cross, Chaîne de l’Espoir, and the association Aviation Sans Frontières, which provides transport for the children.

The Directorate of International Cooperation, which pilots the project, thanked the generous and faithful donors to the MCH, including: Children & Future, AMADE Monaco, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Caritas Monaco, the Pagani Elia association and numerous associations and individual donors who contributed over €430,000 to the Collective in 2016.

Lastly, the outstanding support of footballer Olivier Giroud, Ambassador of the MCH, was acknowledged during the meeting and, in particular, his involvement in the second crowdfunding campaign that rescued two children.

The year 2017 will be marked by the laying of the foundation stone of the catheterisation room in Bamako, Mali. This project of the Monaco Collectif Humanitaire will take care of more children suffering from cardiac pathologies, who will be able to be have operations in their own country.

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