project Monkole: an open pathway for solidarity driven by Science, Medicine, Pharmacy and Nursing

Students participating at project Monkole PHOTO: Manuel Castells

project Monkole is a new solidarity project promoted by the Schools of Science, Medicine, Pharmacy and Nursing of the University of Navarra, which is presented in Solidariun 2012, within a competition that includes seven other projects promoted from different areas of the academic center.

In this case, project Monkole brings together the cooperation of the four Schools of area of science, in partnership with the ONAY Foundation and the Monkole Hospital itself, in Kinshasa (Congo), with whom the University collaborates in various projects for the research in HIV prevention.

According to Silvia Carlos, one of the professors involved and a researcher at department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, "the idea arose to cover different needs that exist in this African hospital and to do so from different fronts. In the case of Pharmacy, the School will be in charge of buying and sending essential medicines to cover the basic health needs of the population they serve".

"From the area of Nutrition", continues the coordinator, "the purchase and shipment of artificial milk for babies will be carried out, as well as offering nutritional advice, through the partnership of the dietician-nutritionist Elena Gascón".

Medicine and Nursing, for their part, would provide the necessary financial aid for the attendance of deliveries, with the goal to prevent HIV - the prevalent infection in El Congo - and other related diseases, cases of violence, social discrimination, etc. "In addition, and thanks to the project of research that we have been maintaining there for three years, we have detected various deficiencies in which we can help. And Dr. Echarri, who has been working there for 15 years, provides his knowledge on the needs of the population in orthopedic surgery," adds Dr. Carlos.

A meal and a concert: the solidarity donation
Finally, the area of Sciences participates in this project through the diagnosis and treatment of various infections, together with the project of setting up a laboratory of Microbiology and a blood bank promoted for two years by Dr. Ramón Díaz, Dr. Inés Dorronsoro and Dr. Antonio Medarde.

To support this project science students can sign up for the lunch and the Solidariun concert at administrative office of the Schools. The money from these tickets, 8 € for both events, will go entirely to project winner of the contest, which will be announced at the end of the 2012 edition.