The Renato and Armando Grandi Foundation is pleased to announce that the Ermotti Foundation, through its president Sergio Ermotti, has made a donation of € 24,500.00 to finance the training of Dr. Elísio Pedro Indi.
This project provides for the financing of the specialization in pediatric cardiology of a pediatrician from the staff of the Renato and Armando Grandi Pediatric Center, Dr. Elísio Pedro Indi, at the Pediatric Cardiology Center of the Coimbra Health Unit, in Portugal. It is a project prepared by Dr. Giovanni Pedrazzini, cardiologist and member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation, together with the director of the center, Dr. S. S. Francisca Louin, and the chief physician, Dr. Augusto Bidonga.
The members of the Renato Foundation and Armando Grandi sincerely thank the Ermotti Foundation for its valuable support of our activities and Dr. Pedrazzini for having launched this training project, a priority to ensure the technical continuity and local autonomy of the center.
The hospital, inaugurated on February 15, 2020 and expanded in 2024, is now fully operational and has gone from 8 outpatient beds to 44 inpatient beds, becoming a true pediatric hospital. It currently employs more than 40 people, including four Cuban-trained paediatricians, and cares for more than 30,000 children a year in a disadvantaged neighbourhood of Bissau.
It is a very valuable structure for one of the poorest countries in the world, a true treasure that is essential to protect and preserve.
In the long term, the goal is for the hospital to be autonomous and for the State to progressively take charge of it. However, this transition remains complex and could jeopardize the sustainability of the structure.
For this reason, we have launched a structured training programme aimed at training Guinean doctors in paediatric cardiology.
For the Renato and Armando Grandi Foundation, it is essential to be able to count on the generosity of people like Mr. S. S. Ermotti, which allow us to carry out programs like this, with the specific objective of curing children and saving lives.
Following the example of this great sensitivity and concreteness, we wish to express from now on our full readiness to welcome other similar collaborations and voluntary medical missions.