Juan Ciudad NGO has opened a local branch at the San Juan de Dios Hospital in León, the third in the region of Castile and León, after Burgos and Palencia.
The NGO, which has been working towards sustainable development since 1991 in the most disadvantaged regions of the planet, seeks to increase its reach through the centers of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God. Its director, Gonzalo Sales, recalls—on the occasion of World Health Day—that “Universal vaccination must be a first step towards the full exercise of this human right.”.
The organization currently has 14 regional branches and several local branches in some autonomous communities such as Catalonia, Castile and León, and Andalusia. Gonzalo Sales explained that "As a leading organization for international cooperation for the development of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God in Spain, we want to increase our reach through the institution's centers.”. Especially, as he added, of “Those located in cities with a long tradition of supporting cooperation, such as the San Juan de Dios Hospital in León.”.
On the occasion of World Health Day, which this year 2021 is celebrated under the slogan 'Building a fairer and healthier world', Sales has underlined the “double aspect"commemorative of this day: memory and hope.
“A look back at the past year, the lessons we should learn from the pandemic; and hope for vaccination, which shows us that even the most insurmountable challenges are possible. However, there is still much to learn and do, as health is a universal human right to which not everyone has access, and vaccination must be the first step toward fully exercising that right.", he specified.
Triage at the Hospital of the Hospitaller Order in Asafo, Ghana, during the COVID-19 outbreak.
COVID-19 has hit all countries hard, but its impact has been most acute in communities that were already vulnerable, more exposed to the disease, less likely to access quality health services, and more likely to suffer adverse consequences as a result of the measures implemented to contain the pandemic.
A project to prevent Covid-19 in Ghana
The centers operated by the Order of the Brothers of St. John of God in Ghana face many challenges every day in providing their healthcare services, a situation that has been exacerbated by the spread of COVID-19.
For this reason, the NGO Juan Ciudad—in collaboration with the Social Work of the Hospitals of León and Burgos, as well as the Jesús Abandonado Shelter—raised funds throughout 2020 to control the infection in Asafo, Amrahia, and Oseikojokrom by training their healthcare personnel.
The total project budget was €25,177, of which the León medical center contributed €6,500 to hire three teachers.
Therapeutic alternative to recover mental health
Now, throughout 2021, under the name "Radio Hospitalidad, transmitting the love of San Juan de Dios," the San Juan de Dios Hospital in León will try to raise the same amount to fund "a therapeutic alternative for mental health recovery" at the Clínica de Nuestra Señora de la Paz, located in the eighth district of Kennedy in the city of Bogotá, capital of Colombia.
"It's about building scenarios for the exercise of autonomy, recognition, inclusion, and mitigation of stigma in these patients," explained Juan Ciudad NGO, without forgetting that, aside from this online radio program, "we plan to generate photography experiences with a program specifically designed to teach patients this visual art form as a means of expression."
Source: Press Release from the San Juan de Dios Hospital in León.
News edition: Juan Ciudad NGO Communication.
