Emergency is a humanitarian NGO that provides emergency medical treatment to civilian victims of war, especially in relation to landmines. It was founded by war surgeon Gino Strada in 1994 in Milan (Italy).
Gino Strada and the other founders of Emergency aimed to bring free, high-quality medical and surgical assistance to war victims. Over time, their humanitarian projects assumed a broader view, including giving human rights to those who suffer the social consequences from wars. Emergency promotes a culture of peace and solidarity.
Emergency strives for neutrality in every war; its aim is to guarantee the right of free medical assistance to the population affected by a war. Today Emergency is active in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Iraq, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Sri Lanka. Emergency’s humanitarian projects usually involve construction, support, and operation of permanent hospitals. However, Emergency has also given short-term emergency assistance to existing hospitals in areas with a critical need for temporary care by providing specialized personnel, drugs or instruments. These short-term projects have included Algeria, Angola, Eritrea, Nicaragua, Palestine and Serbia. To date, more than 2.3 million people have received care from Emergency health centers.
Famous quotes containing the word emergency:
“War-making is one of the few activities that people are not supposed to view “realistically”; that is, with an eye to expense and practical outcome. In all-out war, expenditure is all-out, unprudent—war being defined as an emergency in which no sacrifice is excessive.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)