€5,000 award: Mallorca doctor wins for Gambia health

A Mallorca doctor whose foundation supports a health centre serving about 60,000 people in Gambia has won a €5,000 philanthropy award. Jaume Julià received CaixaBank Wealth Management’s Balearic Islands prize in Palma on Thursday, 24 September. The bank recognised his nearly two decades of health co-operation work and his role in setting up Fundació SOM.

Julià, a specialist in angiology and vascular surgery, began working on health projects 18 years ago in Guatemala, the Sahrawi refugee camps, Colombia and Ethiopia. His later work in Gambia, together with other health professionals’ wish to join the efforts, led to the creation of Fundació SOM in 2020.

Health missions prepared in Mallorca

Much of the foundation’s work is now focused on Gambia, although it has also mounted missions in Senegal and Ghana and runs projects on Mallorca. Its work includes general, vascular and paediatric surgery, medical and paediatric consultations, dental treatment, wound care, equipment donations and training for local health staff.

Julià and the foundation’s board prepare the missions by bringing together professionals, working with local partners and arranging medical and surgical supplies. Much of that planning happens on Mallorca, allowing teams to begin treating patients soon after arrival.

The foundation’s projects include the Sanyang Health Centre in Gambia and a planned vascular-surgery mission to Keta Public Hospital in Ghana. On Mallorca, it works with the Institut Mallorquí d’Afers Socials, known as IMAS, on relationship and sex education for vulnerable teenagers.

CaixaBank Wealth Management selected 11 initiatives for this ninth edition of its philanthropy awards, one from each regional division. Each will receive €5,000; the bank said it received 196 applications.

Topics: Health

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com