On Thursday, July 13, 2023, Olivier Giroud, a World Cup-winning footballer and Heart Ambassador of Monaco Collectif Humanitaire (MCH), made a heartfelt visit to Monaco to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the organization. The MCH marks this milestone with an impressive record of providing heart surgeries to 515 children.
The event was graced by the presence of prominent figures such as Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, Government Counselor-Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Princely Government, and Guy Nervo, Deputy President of the Cardio-Thoracic Centre of Monaco (CCM). Olivier Giroud spent time meeting four children from Niger and Ivory Coast, who recently underwent heart surgeries at the Cardiothoracic Centre of Monaco.
Having been an ambassador and benefactor for MCH for nine years, Giroud engaged with host families, healthcare staff, the Monaco Red Cross, and Rencontres Africaines, the organization responsible for organizing the children's stay in Monaco.
A significant moment of the day was the presentation of donations by two member associations of the MCH, Children & Future and Monaco Aid and Presence (MAP). They respectively donated €50,000 and €20,000 to support the collective. Children & Future, the primary donor of MCH, was accompanied by Yakuba Ouattara, the current French Champion basketball team captain of the Roca Team and patron of the No Finish Line.
It is worth mentioning that since 2019, a partnership with the Chain of Hope has allowed MCH to extend its aid to four African countries (Mali, Madagascar, Senegal, Burkina Faso). This initiative aims to perform surgeries directly on children in their home countries, conditions permitting. For severe and non-operable cases, a support system is in place in Monaco at partner health centers.
MCH is a solidarity chain comprising 16 Monegasque Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), three French NGOs, and three healthcare centers in Monaco (Cardio-thoracic Center of Monaco, Princess Grace Hospital Center, Monegasque Institute of Sports Medicine and Surgery (IM2S)), and four in Africa. The African centers are André Festoc Pediatric Cardio Center in Bamako, Mali, Soavinandriana Hospital Center (CENHOSOA) in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Cuomo Pediatric Cardio Center in Dakar, Senegal, and Tingandogo University Hospital Center in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
For more information, visit www.mch.mc