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AVSI Meets Pope

On Saturday September 3rd on the occasion of the Open Hospitals in Syria conference, AVSI was received in audience by Pope Francis.

Open Hospitals. Pope Francis donates ten ventilators to support COVID-19 emergency in Syria

The Congregation for the Eastern Churches has set up an emergency fund responding to the urging of the Holy Father not to abandon those who are suffering, especially the poorest, during the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 epidemic.

On behalf of Pope Francis, ten ventilators were donated and will be installed in the three hospitals supported by the project “Open Hospitals”, started in 2016 thanks to the initiative of Cardinal Mario Zenari, Apostolic Nuncio in Syria, and in partnership with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

AVSI foundation launches project Open Hospitals

On Thursday, February 16, 2017, AVSI Foundation officially launched the project Open Hospitals, which aims to enhance and empower three Catholic hospitals in Syria. The event took place in Rome at The Agostino Gemelli Teaching Hospital, which runs the Gemelli Foundation, AVSI’s partner in this project. The other partner is the Cor Unum, Pontifical Council in charge of directing and coordinating the organizations and charitable initiatives of the Catholic Church. Gemelli Foundation has already contributed to the Open Hospitals project with 1 million Euros. AVSI will run the project for three years and it aims to create 42,000 new hospital beds per year.