Cairo – It will be the first African pediatric hospital to bear the name of the Child Jesus and will belong to the Coptic Catholic Church. It will guarantee health care for children and pregnant women in a country where, unfortunately, high birth rates continue to be marked by a high incidence of neonatal mortality. It will be built on land offered in concession by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi. This is the work promoted by the “Cairo Bambino Gesù Association”, a charity organization chaired by the Coptic Catholic priest Yoannis Lahzi Gaid, a member of the High Committee for Human Fraternity and former personal secretary of Pope Francis. The Bambino Gesù Association of Cairo operates in Egypt through the Human Fraternity Foundation, an entity dedicated to social and welfare projects for the poorest sections of the population. Both organizations are inspired by the spirit and proposals contained in the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Common Coexistence signed on February 4, 2019 in Abu Dhabi by Pope Francis and Sheikh Ahmed al Tayyeb, Grand Imam of Al Azhar.
It was Egyptian President al Sisi who ordered the transfer of the land on which the new health center will be built. The land granted in concession is located in the great urban area of Cairo, in the area where the so-called “New Administrative Capital” is being built, which will house some 5 million inhabitants in the first phase of urbanization. Once the project is finished, the new city should house some 7 million Egyptians. The signing of the contracts that will allow the start of construction is scheduled for the next few days, as confirmed to Agenzia Fides by local sources. The representatives of the company that directs the urban plans of the administrative capital met with the promoters of the project on August 21. In that meeting, the lands subject to the state concession were identified and an inspection was also carried out in the area where the facilities will be built. In addition to Father Lahzi Gaid, other members of the Human Fraternity Foundation also participated, such as Hala Mustafa Zayed – former Egyptian health minister – and Pietro Luigi Ronaldo Donato, president of the Italian Hospital in Cairo. During the meeting, the priest and the former minister expressed their gratitude to president al Sisi, who with the concession of the land “concretely expressed his gratitude” for the charitable and social activity pursued by the Cairo Bambino Gesù Association.
Coptic Catholic Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak also expressed his gratitude to the President of the Republic al Sisi for having given the land for this important project promoted for the benefit of sick children.
At the health level, the Bambino Gesù Hospital in Cairo will be launched taking advantage of the close collaboration with the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Rome, a hospital center owned by the Holy See, recognized as the largest pediatric polyclinic and research center in Europe. Thanks to the connection with the Bambino Gesù Hospital in Rome and the contribution of Italian and Egyptian doctors and engineers, the new hospital will be able to provide mothers and children with levels of health care in line with the most modern scientific standards. Medical and nursing staff will have state-of-the-art medical devices at their disposal. (GV) (Agenzia Fides, 30/8/2022)
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