MISSION
The Mission of the Hemophilia Foundation of Argentina

Since its beginning, the Foundation’s objective has been “the study, treatment and social aid of patients with hemophilia” (2nd Article of the Statutes). In 1995, the members of the Administration Council redefined the mission of the Foundation after considering the role of the Foundation during that time. As a result, the mission statement became “to take care of, in a comprehensive manner, people with hemophilia from all over the country.”

While redefining the mission of the Foundation, it became apparent that the Foundation had always put an emphasis on providing its patients with quality medical attention that transcended borders: since 1974 our Institution has been recognized as a Center for International Training in Hemophilia by the World Hemophilia Federation. For this reason, we annually receive numerous professional scholarship holders from all over Latin America who come to increase their knowledge in this specialty.

All of the Foundation’s resources were destined to pay for and to improve this medical attention, not only for those patients who had health insurance, but also for those who lacked coverage. A concern at that time was the Foundation’s lack of social activities. To address this concern, a committee was created to come up with and carry out specific projects, all of which would have a stable and outside source of financing.

The magazine is perhaps the best example of this new stage of the Foundation. We quickly obtained the resources by which to print and distribute the magazine through the advertisements published in the magazine.

The Commission for the Assistance of Patients with Hemophilia and HIV was created to fight in Congress for laws that benefit all patients infected with the HIV virus as a consequence of treatment with blood derivatives. The Commission managed to have two laws passed: 25,452 and 25.869. Currently the Commission has also taken up the rights of those who were infected with HCV and it is fighting to obtain a compensation for those who have Hepatitis C.

We also had our first camping 0 in Pilar, but in this case we had to wait for some years until in 1999 when we could pursue this idea with renewed force thanks to the support of a laboratory (nowadays there are many) that financed not only all of the expenses of the lodging, food, equipment and honors of the professionals that accompanied us, but also financed the transportation to the selected place and the transportation for the children who came from the interior of the country.

The Commission of Meetings began to organize strolls, first to the Ciudad de Niños and soon after to the Parque de la Costa. The Commission also organized Days in Pontevedra and the Campo de Mayo. Now, with the help of several laboratories, we organize walks like “Un día de campo en familia,” “Temaikén” and “Rodizio Campo.”

Over the past few years we have offered classes in painting, video and computers.

Finally, we carried out some important improvements in the building (expansion of the main entrance hall, change of floors, a television and telephone in all of the patient rooms, etc.) and we obtained instruments for all areas of the Foundation. In all of these cases we counted on important donations with strings attached, that is to say with a specific destination that we had to respect in order not to lose these donations.

Although we are sure that there is still much more to be done to improve the quality of life of people with hemophilia, we believe that we are on the right path to fulfill this “comprehensive” goal, which we defined in 1995.