Humanitarian care and Rare diseases management

Children living abroad: how to request assistance from Bambino Gesù Hospital 

Every year, patients from all over the world are treated at Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital. In 2021, 510 foreign patients were hospitalized, coming from 76 countries, including 28 European, 20 African, 15 Asian and 13 American countries.

Among them, 97 humanitarian patients were hospitalized and received free treatment for 3 million euros, that were almost entirely financed by the fundraising activity of Fondazione Bambino Gesù Onlus. These patients came from 42 different countries: 30 from Africa, 27 from Europe, 20 from Asia, and 20 from America.

Furthermore, the Hospital carries out 10 international cooperation projects in Ecuador, El Salvador, Paraguay, Libya, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Iran, Jordan, and Cambodia. It also provides remote training and counseling in 15 different pediatric specialties, with a dedicated e-learning platform.

Rare diseases management

Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital has a long experience in the diagnosis and care of children with a suspected or diagnosed rare disease. The possibility to rely on the most advanced biochemical and genetic diagnostic techniques, the presence of experts in all pediatric fields, as well as the possibility for patients to receive all the traditional and experimental therapies available for these conditions, are the strengths of the care provided by Bambino Gesù to patients suffering from rare diseases.

The wide and consolidated network of collaborations with the territorial services of the National Health Service, as well as the presence of a research center with an area dedicated to rare diseases, contribute to the key role played by the Hospital in all national, European and global networks.

Bambino Gesù Hospital participates in the Italian National Network for Rare Diseases, together with 23 Centers dedicated to 660 diseases and groups of rare diseases, enrolling 60% of the minors present in the Registry of Lazio Region; in Europe the Hospital participates in 20 ERNs (European Reference Networks). Bambino Gesù is the first pediatric hospital in Europe in terms of number of participations in European networks dedicated to rare diseases. In 2021, the patients registered by the Hospital in the rare disease networks were 25,000.