Humanitarian missions
Our Foundation has launched various initiatives to offer support where it is most needed, whether by providing healthcare, training, resources or support. The aim is to strengthen communities in order to improve quality of life and make a real impact on the ground.
The Dexeus Mujer Foundation works to improve women’s health in communities where access to medical services is limited, offering specialised care and training programmes for local professionals. Through these initiatives, it helps to strengthen healthcare systems in the area and ensures that more women can receive quality care in a sustainable manner.
Cameroon Project
Humanitarian Mission in Collaboration with the Jean‑Félicien Gacha Foundation (2023)
From late February to early March 2023, the Dexeus Mujer Foundation carried out a humanitarian mission in western Cameroon in collaboration with then Jean Félicien Gacha Foundation.
The project, which also had the support of Hospital Universitari Dexeus, was launched to address an urgent healthcare need marked by high maternal and infant mortality linked to the lack of specialised care and poor hygienic‑sanitary conditions. Added to this were the population’s economic difficulties in accessing essential medical procedures and the absence of adequate infrastructure, factors that made a direct and specialised intervention indispensable.
The initiative involved a team of gynaecologists from Dexeus Mujer, consisting of Dr Pere Barri Soldevila, Dr Alberto Rodríguez Melcón, Dr Núria Barbany Freixa, and the Obstetrics and Gynaecology residents Manuel Sánchez Prieto, Claudia Montero Carreras and Maria Pellisé Tintoré.
The team, joined by other professionals, travelled to Bangoulap to work as volunteers and provide gynaecological surgical care to the local population, in coordination with specialists from the area. The procedures were carried out at the Cliniques Universitaires des Montagnes (CUM), in close collaboration with the centre’s medical staff.
The project, conceived with the aim of ensuring continuity, combines clinical care with a strong training component, as joint work with local professionals promotes the learning of new techniques and the development of skills in complex gynaecological surgery.
During the 2023 mission, 71 major gynaecological surgical procedures were performed, significantly improving the life expectancy and quality of life of 71 women. In addition, 200 gynaecological consultations were carried out at Bangwa Hospital and a further 100 at the Gacha Foundation.
Project Continuity: Cameroon 2025
In 2025, the Dexeus Mujer Foundation launched a new humanitarian mission in Cameroon, again in collaboration with the Jean‑Félicien Gacha Foundation, ensuring continuity of the project.
This second phase took place from 26 January to 9 February in the rural district of Banganté, located around 250 km from the capital. It is a low‑income rural area with an approximate population of 65,000 inhabitants, most of whom rely on subsistence farming.
In 2023, the team had confirmed that most centres lacked safe operating theatres, making Bangwa Hospital the operational hub of the programme.
The launch of the campaign had a major impact, attracting not only women from nearby villages but also patients from Yaoundé and Douala, who undertook long and difficult journeys despite logistical challenges evidence of both the scale of the need and the importance of the specialised care provided.
Results
The second phase of the project consolidated and expanded the scope of the intervention. Free gynaecological surgery continued to be offered to women without resources and, for the first time, a reconstructive plastic surgeon and a comprehensive paediatric care service for local children and newborns were incorporated.
By the end of 2026, the programme had achieved the following results:
- 103 major surgical procedures successfully performed (2025)
- 73 major surgical procedures successfully performed (2023)
- Nearly 900 children attended in specialised paediatric consultations (2025)
- Approximately 1,000 medical consultations carried out between gynaecology and paediatrics (2025)
- Hands‑on training for local doctors and participation of medical students, strengthening the region’s future healthcare capacity (2025)
- Significant improvement in surgical safety standards and hospital organisation at Bangwa Hospital (2025)
The 2025 mission not only met its clinical objectives but also succeeded in consolidating a sustainable and replicable model of healthcare cooperation in vulnerable rural settings.
The Dexeus Mujer Foundation intends to promote new missions in the area to maintain the continuity of the project and contribute to improving local healthcare provision.
Madagascar 2016
In 2016, the Dexeus Mujer Foundation launched a humanitarian mission in Madagascar with the aim of providing specialised emergency medical care to the rural population in an area where there were many gynaecological conditions and few resources. The mission was carried out at the small St Vicent de Paul hospital in Ambatoabo.
The initiative was supported by the Hospital Universitari Dexeus and launched a crowdfunding campaign through migranodearena.org to raise funds to cover the cost of medicines, consumables and transport, which received great support.