Emergency
Professional services
UnclaimedAn Italian humanitarian organization that provides free medical and surgical care to people affected by war, landmines, poverty, and limited access to healthcare.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
Emergency, commonly styled as EMERGENCY, is an Italian humanitarian organization founded in 1994 by war surgeon Gino Strada and other medical and civic activists. Its central premise is that access to high-quality healthcare is a fundamental human right, regardless of a patient's nationality, legal status, religion, ethnicity, gender, or political affiliation. The organization delivers medical assistance without charge in places affected by armed conflict, landmines, displacement, severe poverty, epidemics, and weak or inaccessible public-health systems. Emergency began with a relatively focused objective: treating civilians injured by war and explosive remnants. Its work expanded into a broader model of long-term healthcare provision. Rather than limiting its involvement to short emergency deployments, the organization generally constructs, equips, and operates permanent hospitals, surgical centers, maternity facilities, pediatric units, rehabilitation centers, outpatient clinics, first-aid posts, and mobile services. It also trains local clinical and administrative personnel, with the stated objective of transferring responsibility to local authorities when free, high-quality care can be maintained. The organization has worked in numerous countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Eritrea, the Central African Republic, Libya, Cambodia, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Nicaragua, Algeria, Angola, Palestine, and Italy. Its projects have included war surgery, trauma care, orthopedic rehabilitation, prosthetic fitting, cardiac surgery, pediatric surgery, maternity care, treatment of endemic diseases, primary healthcare, and social reintegration. Some completed projects were handed over to local health authorities after Emergency established the facilities and trained personnel. Afghanistan became one of the organization's longest-running programs. Emergency established a medical-surgical center in the Panjshir Valley in 1999 and later operated surgical facilities in Kabul and Lashkar-Gah, supported by first-aid posts and primary-care clinics. In Iraq, its work has included rehabilitation and prosthetic services for people injured by landmines and renewed emergency surgery in Erbil during the 2017 fighting near Mosul. In Sudan, the Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery in Khartoum became a major regional referral facility and an early component of the African Network of Medical Excellence. Emergency later expanded that network through the Entebbe Children's Surgical Hospital in Uganda. Emergency also maintains a substantial Italian program. Since 2005, it has provided outpatient and mobile healthcare to migrants, refugees, agricultural workers, Roma communities, and other people who face practical or legal barriers to ordinary public services. During the COVID-19 crisis, it helped establish a field hospital in Bergamo. In the Mediterranean, the organization provided medical and post-rescue support aboard vessels operated by partner search-and-rescue groups before beginning its own maritime search-and-rescue activity with the Life Support in December 2022. Advocacy is an important part of the organization's identity. Emergency campaigns against war and landmines and argues that humanitarian medicine cannot be separated entirely from the political conditions that create mass injury and displacement. Its public profile has been reinforced by international recognition, including the Right Livelihood Award in 2015, an Italian public-health medal in 2016, the Sunhak Peace Prize in 2017, and a European Economic and Social Committee Civil Solidarity Prize in 2020. The organization has also held formal relationships with United Nations bodies, including partnership with the UN Department of Public Information from 2006 and consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council from 2015.
History
Emergency was established in Italy in 1994 by Gino Strada and fellow founders who sought to provide free, high-quality surgical care to civilians injured by war. The initial focus reflected Strada's experience as a war surgeon and the widespread need for trauma and reconstructive treatment in countries affected by armed conflict, landmines, and collapsed health systems. The organization developed a model based on permanent medical facilities rather than only short-term relief missions. In its early years, Emergency combined specialist international teams with the recruitment and training of local personnel. Its projects commonly included surgical hospitals, first-aid posts, rehabilitation services, and referral systems connecting remote communities to specialist facilities. The organization began work in Iraq in 1995, treating people injured by landmines and other consequences of the Iran-Iraq War period. Afghanistan became a major program from 1999, when Emergency opened a medical-surgical center in the Panjshir Valley. It subsequently developed additional surgical and primary-care capacity in Kabul, Helmand Province, and surrounding areas. Emergency's legal and institutional status in Italy developed during the late 1990s. It was recognized as a non-profit organization in 1998 and received approval as a non-governmental organization in 1999. The organization also became increasingly active in public advocacy, particularly on landmines and the humanitarian consequences of war. Its campaigning contributed to the wider Italian political movement that preceded the country's 1997 ban on the production, sale, and use of landmines. During the 2000s, Emergency broadened its clinical scope and geography. In Sudan it established the Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery in Khartoum, a specialist facility intended to provide free cardiac treatment to patients from Sudan and neighboring countries. The center became the first facility in the African Network of Medical Excellence, a collaboration designed to strengthen specialist healthcare capacity in Africa. Emergency also developed pediatric, maternity, rehabilitation, and primary-care services in several countries. In Sierra Leone, the Goderich Surgical and Pediatric Centre continued operating during the Ebola crisis, and Emergency established an intensive-care unit for Ebola patients while training personnel in infection prevention. The organization began a sustained Italian healthcare program in 2005. Outpatient clinics and mobile units addressed gaps experienced by migrants, refugees, agricultural workers, Roma communities, people living in reception facilities, and others unable to access ordinary public healthcare easily. The mobile services used adapted buses, vans, and trucks to reach locations where fixed clinics were unavailable or difficult to use. This domestic work extended Emergency's original humanitarian principles into a European setting. Emergency's Iraq program illustrates its approach to changing crises. The organization had transferred its Erbil surgical center to local authorities in 2005, but returned in 2017 because of the facility's proximity to the fighting around Mosul. During that intervention, the center performed 1,749 surgical operations, primarily for bullet and shell injuries, before the facility was again handed back as the acute conflict subsided. In Sudan, pediatric services expanded from Mayo and Port Sudan to Nyala, where activity was suspended after the kidnapping of a worker and later resumed. The organization established a cardiac-care support program in Eritrea in 2019 and opened the Entebbe Children's Surgical Hospital in Uganda in 2021. The latter expanded access to pediatric surgery in the region and became another component of the African Network of Medical Excellence. In Italy, Emergency helped with the COVID-19 response in Bergamo in 2020. Emergency also entered maritime humanitarian operations. It provided medical assistance, cultural mediation, and post-rescue support aboard partner vessels, including MOAS's Topaz Responder in 2016 and Proactiva Open Arms' Open Arms from 2019 to 2022. In December 2022 it began its own Central Mediterranean search-and-rescue service with the Life Support. This represented a further expansion from land-based clinical care into direct assistance for people undertaking dangerous sea crossings. By the time of the cited reference material, Emergency reported having treated more than 12 million patients since its creation. Its international institutional profile includes partnership with the United Nations Department of Public Information from 2006 and special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council from 2015. Awards received by Gino Strada and the organization include the Right Livelihood Award in 2015, an Italian Gold Medal for Public Health in 2016, the Sunhak Peace Prize in 2017, and the European Economic and Social Committee Civil Solidarity Prize in 2020. The organization maintains international offices or affiliates in Belgium, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
- 2022
Life Support begins search and rescue
[1]Emergency begins operating the Life Support for maritime search and rescue in the Central Mediterranean.
- 2021
Entebbe Children's Surgical Hospital opens
[1]Emergency opens a 72-bed pediatric surgical hospital in Uganda as part of the African Network of Medical Excellence.
- 2020
COVID-19 response in Bergamo
[1]Emergency helps establish a field hospital in Bergamo during the pandemic.
- 2017
Erbil surgical intervention resumes
[1]Emergency returns to its former Erbil surgical center during the Mosul conflict and performs 1,749 operations before handing the facility back to local authorities.
- 2017
Sunhak Peace Prize
[1]Gino Strada and Emergency receive the Sunhak Peace Prize, with recognition including their Ebola response in Sierra Leone.
- 2016
Italian public-health medal
[1]The Italian government awards Emergency its Gold Medal for Public Health.
- 2015
UN consultative status and Right Livelihood Award
[1]Emergency receives special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council, and Gino Strada and the organization receive the Right Livelihood Award.
- 2013
Salam Centre receives architectural recognition
[1]The Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery receives the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
- 2006
UN partnership
[1]Emergency becomes an official partner of the United Nations Department of Public Information.
- 2005
Italian healthcare program begins
[1]Emergency begins providing healthcare to migrants, refugees, and marginalized communities in Italy.
Products and positioning
An independent, non-profit humanitarian medical organization combining direct clinical care, long-term hospital development, local-staff training, and advocacy for healthcare as a human right and for the prevention of war-related suffering.
Cardiac surgery hospital
Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery
A free specialist cardiac-surgery facility in Khartoum, Sudan, serving patients from Sudan and neighboring countries. The center is designed as a regional referral institution and was the first facility in Emergency's African Network of Medical Excellence. Its work includes surgery, specialist treatment, referrals, and training intended to strengthen sustainable African healthcare capacity.
Pediatric surgery hospital · 2021
Entebbe Children's Surgical Hospital
A 72-bed hospital in Entebbe, Uganda, providing free pediatric surgery for children from Uganda and the wider region. Opened in 2021, it became the second facility in the African Network of Medical Excellence and substantially increased the number of pediatric surgical beds available in Uganda.
War surgery and primary healthcare · 1999
Afghanistan surgical and medical network
Emergency's Afghanistan network includes surgical centers in Kabul and Lashkar-Gah, the Panjshir medical-surgical and maternity facilities, and connected first-aid posts and primary-health clinics. The program treats war injuries and provides continuing specialist and basic healthcare in areas with limited access to medical services.
Rehabilitation and prosthetics
Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration Centre
Emergency's Sulaymaniyah center in Iraq provides physiotherapy, prosthetic fitting, and vocational training for people affected by landmines and other disabling injuries. The model links clinical rehabilitation with social and economic reintegration rather than treating surgery as the end of care.
Community healthcare · 2005
Italian outpatient and mobile clinics
A network of fixed outpatient clinics and mobile units in Italy provides primary and specialist consultations to migrants, refugees, agricultural workers, Roma communities, and other people who encounter barriers to public healthcare. Mobile clinics operate in reception centers, farming areas, camps, and other underserved locations.
Maritime search and rescue · 2022
Life Support
Emergency's search-and-rescue vessel operates in the Central Mediterranean between the Italian island of Lampedusa and the Libyan coast. It provides rescue, emergency medical assistance, and humanitarian support to people attempting the crossing in unsafe boats.
Marketing campaigns
- 2020COVID-19 solidarity response
Italy
Emergency supported the response to the COVID-19 crisis, including the creation of a field hospital in Bergamo.
Outcome. The response received the European Economic and Social Committee's Civil Solidarity Prize in 2020.
- 2019Open Arms medical support
Central Mediterranean
Emergency supplied medical, cultural, and post-rescue support aboard Proactiva Open Arms' rescue vessel.
Outcome. The cooperation continued through 2022 and preceded Emergency's independent Life Support search-and-rescue operation.
- 2016Mediterranean rescue medical support
Central Mediterranean
Emergency provided medical care, cultural mediation, and post-rescue assistance aboard the MOAS vessel Topaz Responder.
Outcome. The organization gained operational experience in maritime humanitarian assistance before later supporting other rescue vessels and operating its own ship.
- 1997Landmine ban advocacy
Italy
Emergency campaigned publicly against landmines and linked medical treatment of victims with advocacy aimed at preventing further injuries. Its lobbying was described as contributing to the political environment surrounding Italy's 1997 ban.
Outcome. Italy banned the production, sale, and use of landmines.
Brand decisions
2022
Launch independent Central Mediterranean search and rescueStrategyBackground
Emergency had previously supported partner rescue vessels and identified continuing medical needs among migrants attempting the Central Mediterranean crossing.
Action taken
Emergency began operating the Life Support to conduct search and rescue and provide emergency medical assistance at sea.
Aftermath
The organization expanded from land-based humanitarian healthcare into direct maritime rescue operations.
2017
Reopen the Erbil surgical center during the Mosul conflictStrategyBackground
Emergency had transferred the facility to local authorities in 2005, but renewed fighting near Mosul created urgent demand for trauma surgery in Erbil.
Action taken
The organization temporarily reestablished operations and provided free surgical treatment to casualties of war.
Aftermath
After the acute phase of fighting, the hospital was returned to local management following 1,749 operations.
1999
Establish a permanent Afghanistan medical networkStrategyBackground
Afghanistan required free specialist care for victims of war and landmines, while many communities lacked dependable surgical services.
Action taken
Emergency opened a medical-surgical center in the Panjshir Valley and developed connected first-aid and primary-care facilities, later adding centers in Kabul and Lashkar-Gah.
Aftermath
Afghanistan became one of Emergency's longest-running and largest programs.
Recent events
Sources3 sources
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