A group of medical personnel from the Southern Health Board have departed for Sudan to help train staff in a major maternity hospital.
Infant mortality there is 15 times higher than in Ireland.
The Southern Health Board teaching delegation will deliver training in newborn resuscitation and obstetrical emergencies to doctors, midwives and nurses in Omdurman Maternity Hospital in Khartoum, which is a 134-bed maternity hospital serving a population of 2.5 million people.
The team is headed up by SHB consultant neo-natologist Dr Tony Ryan, and SHB consultant obstetrician/gynaecologist Prof John Higgins, and also includes consultant uro-gynaecologist Dr Barry O'Reilly and SHB midwives Noreen O'Sullivan and Agnes Phelan.
Prof Ryan explained that the link between the SHB and Khartoum hospital and the University of Khartoum came through Sudanese doctors - consultant paediatrician Dr Sami Ahmed and consultant obstetrician Dr Murshid Ismail - who both work in SHB hospitals in Cork.
Prof Ryan explained: "The project came about when my colleague, Dr Sami Ahmed, invited myself and Joanne Ryan - a neo-natal resuscitation programme teacher - to Sudan in 2002 where we taught the first resuscitation course. We made a commitment then to contribute to the hospital by way of upskilling the staff and establishing formal links with them. Omdurman Maternity Hospital lacks basic amenities, equipment and training for medical and midwifery staff."
Prof Ryan explained that while there are 16,000 doctors registered in Sudan, only 4,000 doctors are working in the country.
"We've had many Sudanese doctors as members of our team here in Cork's maternity services and feel strongly the imbalance of brain drain between Ireland and Sudan must be addressed, if not directly, at least indirectly by contributing our skills back to the Sudanese people.
"During this trip we will train medical, nursing and midwifery staff in a specialised newborn resuscitation course and also train a number of staff to become trainers so that they can deliver the programme themselves.
"We also hope to establish the necessary administrative structures within the hospital to ensure the trainers develop and maintain the programme".
According to Prof Ryan, the most important beneficiaries of the programme will be newborn babies and their families in Sudan, where infant mortality is 15 times higher than in Ireland.