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On February 2007, the implementation of the Mother Kangaroo Method in Albania entered a new phase. The International Health Co-operation Unit of the A.Meyer Children University Hospital of Florence, one of the most relevant Italian Medical Institution specialized in Mother and Child care, decided to provide the IDEASS Initiative with assistance in formulate a project for the implementation of the Method and the Mother and Child Care programs in the Albanian Region of Shkoder, following the priorities of the Albanian Ministry of Health. The project will be realized in the framework of the cooperation activities between the Tuscany Region, the UNDP ART GOLD Albania Program and the ART IDEASS Program.

A mission to Albania of Dr.Maria José Caldés Pinilla, Responsible of Meyer’s International Health Co-operation Unit, and Dr.Maria Letizia Caccamo, Pediatrician Neonatologist, was held from 11th to 14th February, 2007. The mission aimed at conducting a feasibility survey for the formulation of a project to be implemented in the Region of Shkoder. The project will be articulated in two components: training activities in the Shkoder Hospital on the Mother Kangaroo Method and on the correct use of medical technology; training activities on the territory with the medical and paramedical personnel of the territorial Health Centers of the Skhoder District, which will assist the mothers before and during the delivery and address them to the Method. The “follow up” of the mothers and children after the delivery will be provided by the Centers themselves.

The technical assistance to the project will be provided by the Meyer Hospital and the Maternity Hospital of Tirana. The World Health Organization, whose Representative in Albania, Dr. Dévora Kestel, met the Meyer-IDEASS delegation, gave full support to the project. The Shkoder Mother Kangaroo executive project will be defined in details in the next period and will be funded by the Tuscany Region. The ART GOLD Albania Programme will provide logistic and organizational assistance to the project activities.

A visit to Albania of the Director of the International Cooperation of the Tuscany Region, Massimo Toschi, is foreseen on the next period, in order to meet the Albanian Health Autorities and start to the project in Shkoder.

The ‘Mother Kangaroo’ method is now being implemented at the Durrës Obstetric Hospital, with the collaboration of the Albanian Ministry of Health, the WHO Albania, the UNDP Country Office and the IFAD/UNOPS PASARP Programme. The project received technical assistance from the author of the innovation Professor Hector Martinez and was supported by the Burlo Garofolo Medical Institute of Trieste (Italy). The Method is implemented in the Durrës Hospital in collaboration with the territorial health units, which orient potential ”kangaroo mothers” to the Hospital and guarantee the follow-up of “Kangaroo babies” once they go home. All “Kangaroo mothers” involved in the project have welcomed the method enthusiastically. For the first time, babies are placed close to their mothers soon after their birth, thus increasing breastfeeding and improving the mother-baby relationship. The project intends to consolidate the Method in Durrës and to extend it to other Albanian regions. In accordance with the Albanian Ministry of Health, the Durrës Hospital will act as the National Centre for the Mother Kangaroo Method by carrying out promotional and training activities and by establishing new “Mother Kangaroo Units” in other Albanian Hospitals and medical centres. Dr. Eduart Tushe, director of the division of Neonatology at the Maternity Hospital of Tirana, will act as national supervisor of the Mother Kangaroo Method ensuring its progressive adoption at a national level, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. The ART WIN international laboratory (Welfare INnovations) of the Region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, set up within the framework of the ART Partnership agreements with UNESCO, UNDP, OMS-WMC and UNOPS, will support the dissemination of the Mother Kangaroo method within the health care system of the Mediterranean countries.