For more than 35 years, the paediatric surgery department of the CHUV, Lausanne, has been collaborating with the NGO “Terre des hommes” (Tdh), to care for children from West African countries.

History

In 1988, the first cooperation missions were organized in Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast and Senegal.  The aim was to improve the local care of patients but also to promote long-term follow-up of children undergoing surgery. This follow-up is beneficial not only to local professionals but also to the young staff members who accompany the trained surgeons and anesthesiologists.

In 1997, the Tdh Foundation, Swiss Cooperation and the Republic of Benin built a paediatric hospital adjacent to the Zou Department Hospital (Abomey).

Since 2003, a partnership agreement has been signed between the CHUV, the Centre Hospitalier du Département du Zou et Collines in Benin and the Tdh Foundation. This agreement states that as many children as possible are treated in their own country and that the most complicated cases are transferred to Switzerland. 

In October 2012, the team of pediatric surgeons and anesthesiologists from the CHUV, who drive the yearly missions to Benin, decided to create a Foundation to raise the necessary funds for these missions. The Pediatric Surgery for Africa Foundation was born.

The Pediatric Surgery for Africa Foundation provides surgical care for hundreds of underprivileged children in West Africa where specialized surgery is not available.

Members of the board

  • Dr Anthony de Buys Roessingh, Pediatric surgeon & President
  • Prof Judith Hohlfeld, Pediatric surgeon
  • Dr Mirko Dolci, Anesthesiologist
  • Dr. Pascal Ramseyer, Pediatric surgeon
  • Yves Bonnard, Lawyer
  • Patrick Delarive, Fund raising
  • Laura De Kock, Communication
  • Serge Rovenne, Technology & logistics