Bridging the gap in respiratory medicine: How a pulmonologist from other continent can help African children who “can’t breathe?” The story of a European professor and his African trainee

Abstract

An European pediatric pulmonologist successfully organized a 2-year in-house pediatric pulmonology training with simultaneous establishment of the first pediatric pulmonary center in Ethiopia. Collaboration of the local institution with a non-governmental organization (NGO) facilitated the realization of the program. Training cost was significantly low compared to the expected out of country training, with extra financial benefit enabling purchase of equipment for the center. Our experience shows that specialists from developed countries can be instrumental to establishing cost-effective training programs and founding of specialized services in low-income countries by training subspecialists in their own setting. NGOs and leading international professional societies can support such programs to relieve the suffering of the child who “can’t breathe” because s/he is born in a low income country.