Three children, each accompanied by an adult, travelled on 29 June 2009 from Libya to the Czech Republic to undergo heart disease treatment in the Motol University Hospital, Prague.

The offer to treat gravely ill children forms a part of humanitarian aid offered by the Czech Republic to the Libyan National Transitional Council during a visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel Schwarzenberg and Deputy Minister of the Interior Jaroslav Hruška to Benghazi. The treatment of children will be carried out in the framework of the MEDEVAC programme, enlarged by last week’s decision of the Czech government.

The MEDEVAC programme, which falls under the Ministry of the Interior, has been helping gravely ill children in conflict zones and has been now enlarged to focus on Libya and other countries of North Africa. In cooperation with the children’s heart disease unit of the Motol University Hospital and relevant centres in Benghazi, which is controlled by the National Transitional Council, young patients are selected who cannot undergo operations in Libya due to the armed conflict.

During the visit to Libya, the Czech delegation also handed over humanitarian aid in the form of equipment for a field hospital. This gift by the Czech government and NGO People In Need has a total value of 100 thousand euros. The field hospital that received the equipment is situated in the immediate vicinity of the ongoing hostilities and daily treats victims of the armed conflict.

_{Photo: Council of the EU}