In early November, a seven-member team of doctors, midwives, and nursing professionals was deployed in Mendefera, Eritrea. The goal was to further improve medical care for mothers as well as premature and newborn infants and to strengthen obstetric and neonatal care in the long term.
December invites us to pause – and look back with gratitude on what we have been able to achieve together. Fittingly, the new edition of our newsletter “On Course” has been published!
They are only nine months old, identical twins – two girls, two identical diagnoses, but without treatment hardly any future. With this dramatic initial situation, the children were presented in October 2025 to the international cardiac surgery team at Orotta Hospital Asmara. The twins suffered from a severe congenital heart defect. This had already led to pulmonary overload and significant growth impairment.
At the beginning of August, Archemed received an urgent plea for help from Eritrea: two-year-old Naomi had fallen ill with a retinoblastoma—a malignant tumor of the retina that, if left untreated, can lead to blindness or even death. Since then, Archemed has been accompanying the little girl and her mother on their difficult but hopeful journey.
A seven-member team of pediatric surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses from Bremen traveled to Eritrea again in early September with project leader Prof. Dr. Christian Lorenz, former head physician of the Clinic for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine at the Bremen Hospital Association (Gesundheit Nord gGmbH). During the twelve-day mission, the specialists were able to examine a total of 95 children and provide surgical treatment for 71 of them.
ARCHEMED is embarking on a new journey with a new name, a new logo, and new premises.