President, why was the Summit such an important event?

The meeting had a very significant relevance and content. The contributions put on the table can greatly help the reflection on children’s rights and create the opportunity to carry out concrete and very important actions.

The panel I took part in was the one on the child-family relationship, and this topic also brings us back to the attention that the Patrons of the World’s Children Hospital pay to the children, especially those who can’t receive care. I believe that the care of sick children and the possibility of telediagnosis and telemedicine in Africa can effectively lead to a qualitative leap, because with many diagnoses it is also possible to avoid transfer for treatment in Italy and other countries.

Today these projects are going in the direction emphasized by the Holy Father, that is, to bring children back to the center of attention, to bring them back to normality. This is the intention that Pope Francis has expressed, and the fact that he was present for the whole day gave great importance to the initiative. The personalities who took part in the event will now be able to bring messages and changes in this direction to their own countries. These summits trace the direction towards change: this is also the spirit of the Patrons.

During the Summit, the Holy Father spoke of ‘denied childhood’, which ‘is a silent outcry denouncing the iniquity of the economic system, the criminality of wars, the lack of medical care and school education’. What is your opinion on this and how do the Patrons make these appeals concrete?

With the Patrons, we have given ourselves the task of taking care of the youngest. In my past experience at the Bambino Gesù hospital, I have always worked to welcome children and their families. It is very important that children have some family members with them, so that they don’t feel isolated and lost, but can receive the benefits of these important bonds, especially if the treatment is long. A denied childhood means wounded and sick children. In my experience I have had first-hand experience of this condition. So, with the Patrons we would like to give back to all these people, thanks to our action, the possibility of taking their lives back through the care, attention and involvement of their families.

How important is it to have reliable partners like CUAMM and PIME?

It’s fundamental. The partners we work with need to make the best use of the resources available to them to provide the service we require. The same goes for the hospitals that take in children: they need to be places where research is carried out and where suitable treatments are available. These need to be high-quality, high-value organizations, also in terms of their willingness to take in families.

What are your expectations for the future, also about the Patrons’ projects?

The desire is to admit and treat an increasing number of children, but at the same time also to create new systems so that in Africa and countries with the same critical issues, local personnel can be trained and provided with tools such as telemedicine, telediagnosis and teleconsultation. This is how we can arrive at diagnosis and treatment without the need to transfer minors to other countries. The Summit will be repeated in 2027, while in 2026 we will have the Second World Children’s Day: here the contents that emerged during the Summit will be proposed again and explored further. I’m also referring to issues such as the urgency of fighting child labor and ensuring that children receive adequate care and are treated with dignity and respect. These are elements that can be transformed into concrete projects, intending to push governments to take action in this area.