{"id":70359,"date":"2025-07-22T12:03:25","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T10:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/en\/?p=70359"},"modified":"2025-07-22T12:03:25","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T10:03:25","slug":"leave-no-one-behind-cuamm-in-apulia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/leave-no-one-behind-cuamm-in-apulia\/","title":{"rendered":"Leave No One Behind CUAMM in Apulia"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is in the Capitanata area, a district in the province of Foggia, that Doctors with Africa CUAMM is renewing its commitment in Apulia. Quietly launched in 2015 by the local group Doctors with Africa CUAMM Bari, the proximity-based healthcare intervention<\/strong>, carried out as part of the Su.Pr.Eme 2 project, focuses on providing healthcare to marginalized groups<\/strong>\u2014mainly seasonal and migrant agricultural workers \u2014 living in informal settlements such as Casa Sankara and Arena<\/strong>. The initiative has since expanded to the municipalities of Nard\u00f2 (LE), Turi (BA), and Terlizzi (BAT), with seasonal activities.<\/p>\n

The Apulia region hosts approximately 138,000 foreign nationals<\/strong>, most of whom reside in the provinces of Bari and Foggia, where agriculture is the predominant economic activity. The local agri-food industry relies heavily on the contributions of seasonal and migrant workers<\/strong> to meet the demands of planting, harvesting, and processing crops. They work long hours in the fields and live on the fringes of society in informal settlements located outside urban centers. These settlements vary in size depending on geography and season, with peaks in population during the summer months when over 6,000 people are estimated to arrive for the harvest<\/strong>. Some agricultural workers remain there year-round due to the lack of alternative housing, living in extremely precarious conditions in what are commonly referred to as \u201cghettos.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Although we dislike the term, the image of isolation and marginalization<\/strong> it conveys is unfortunately very true. These are often squatted buildings, farmhouses, or shantytowns where migrant workers live in a state of constant social, economic, and health exclusion. While some more organized environments exist\u2014like the Boncuri guesthouse near Nard\u00f2\u2014the condition of marginalization remains a constant.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe living conditions of these people have a significant impact on their health,\u201d said Lucia Raho, CUAMM Medical Coordinator<\/strong>. \u201cEven in the more dignified settings, like the Boncuri guesthouse, living conditions are far from ideal for many reasons, and this ultimately affects their health.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

CUAMM\u2019s work<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

CUAMM\u2019s ongoing commitment in the province of Foggia, and its seasonal work in the municipalities of Nard\u00f2 (LE), Turi (BA), and Terlizzi (BAT), is a proximity-based healthcare initiative<\/strong> aimed at ensuring access to primary services for migrant populations. In collaboration with AReSS, the Apulia Region, and local health authorities (ASLs), these efforts seek to improve access to local services<\/strong> for vulnerable groups, with a focus on social inclusion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember the first time I visited these areas,\u201d said Lucia Raho.<\/strong> \u201cI had been working in a hospital for years, and with other volunteer doctors from CUAMM Bari, we decided to bring some basic equipment and see for ourselves what the situation was and what the most urgent needs might be. What I saw didn\u2019t seem real\u2014I couldn\u2019t believe that just around the corner, in my own city, people were living in such conditions.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Cuamm medical teams encounter a wide range of issues, often worsened by the lack of timely medical intervention. Among those treated, cases of diabetes, hypertension, muscle pain, and gastrointestinal or dermatological conditions related to poor hygiene are common.<\/p>\n

To provide basic medical services, CUAMM\u2019s multidisciplinary teams travel in a mobile clinic to reach informal settlements in the province of Foggia, as well as those in Turi, Terlizzi, and the Boncuri guesthouse in Nard\u00f2.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cProviding proximity-based care means having doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, and volunteers assisting patients and referring them to the national healthcare system when necessary,\u201d said Andrea Atzori, Head of International Relations.<\/strong> \u201cThrough our work in Apulia, CUAMM aims to support migrants, especially seasonal workers who are vulnerable to exploitation and at high risk of being subjected to illegal labor practices.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Barriers to Healthcare Access<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

In the informal settlements of Apulia where CUAMM operates, only 8% of people have a general practitioner<\/strong>. For most, proximity-based care is their only access point to healthcare.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we do\u2014thanks also to close collaboration with social workers\u2014is build a bridge between the healthcare system and marginalized communities who face language barriers, prejudice, and stereotypes,\u201d said Cesare De Vergilio, community doctor and CUAMM volunteer.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Social, economic, and health-related isolation affects not only seasonal migrant workers but also people experiencing homelessness and members of the Roma and Sinti communities. With financial support from the Department of Welfare of the Municipality of Bari, Doctors with Africa CUAMM, in collaboration with the Caps social cooperative and Psychologists for the People, is also working in the Roma and Sinti settlement of Japigia<\/strong>. There, a Proximity Socio-Health Center is active, offering prevention, counseling, and care services to members of the community and other marginalized groups, including homeless individuals in the municipality of Bari.<\/p>\n

\u201cHealthcare access is a challenge for the Roma and Sinti people living in this settlement. Most of them lack regular documents, and only a few have a health card, so they don\u2019t seek medical care. The outreach unit gives them access to basic services they would otherwise be excluded from, and this is highly appreciated by the entire community,\u201d said Daniel Tomescu<\/strong>, who has been a community liaison for Japigia for 25 years.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

While our work continues steadily in nine sub-Saharan African countries, our mission in Apulia is a reminder that no one should be left behind<\/strong> and that the right to health, access to care, and human dignity are principles worth defending\u2014principles on which more inclusive and compassionate communities can be built.<\/p>\n

CUAMM\u2019s interventions in Apulia\u2014specifically in the provinces of Foggia, Bari, and Barletta-Andria-Trani\u2014are carried out as part of the Su.Pr.Eme. project, a five-year multi-fund program financed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies through the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (FAMI) 2021\u20132027, in synergy with the National Inclusion Plan 2021\u20132027.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A widespread healthcare intervention born in the heart of the province of Foggia, among seasonal and migrant agricultural workers, which extends to other provinces in Apulia to bring assistance to the most marginalized.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":70363,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1172,2493],"tags":[2931],"argomenti":[2932],"protagonisti":[],"luoghi":[2643,2865],"class_list":["post-70359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-homenews","tag-apulia","argomenti-su-pr-eme","luoghi-italy","luoghi-apulia"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70359"},{"taxonomy":"argomenti","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/argomenti?post=70359"},{"taxonomy":"protagonisti","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/protagonisti?post=70359"},{"taxonomy":"luoghi","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/luoghi?post=70359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}