Healthcare professionals, before beginning their professional practice, must commit to basing their profession on dedication to patient well-being, confidentiality, the dignity of the profession and non-maleficence.
For some professionals, this right to universal care takes them beyond their jobs in hospitals. This is the case of pediatric surgeons, Clara Massaguer and Clara Esteva. For 13 and 10 years, the two professionals have been part of the team of surgeons who travel to Senegal (Africa) with the NGO Hope&Progress, founded by the former director of the pediatric surgery service at Parc Taulí, Dr. Carlos Bardají.
"There are three surgical expeditions a year to different regions of Senegal such as Casamance, Velingara or Saint Louise. And during that week we operate on pediatric patients, although we treat anyone who walks through the door.”, explains Dr. Massaguer.
The expeditions are one week long, and during those days the working days can be from 8am to 20pm. “These are very long working days, and we work in unthinkable conditions, battle medicine. But our desire is to help as many people as we can. We see about 75-80 patients on average during these days. Most of the surgical interventions are hernias, lipomas, burn treatments... Even snake bites”, says Dr. Esteva.
Despite the personal and financial effort involved in making these expeditions, both professionals give a very positive assessment and agree that, when you finish the expedition, you leave with a feeling of great gratitude. “You receive more than you give and you're already thinking about giving back.”, express the two surgeons.
Hope&Progress is an NGO that provides surgical care to children with pathologies that hinder their development and quality of life. It also works to improve the health infrastructure of the hospitals where it cooperates. Since the start of the surgical expeditions in 2012, more than 2.000 patients have already been operated on.
