These scholarships are for doctors who work in underprivileged areas and thus have difficulty in accessing training centers. The scholarships are awarded on a competitive basis and offer the chance to complete the distance learning PROFAM Outpatient and Family Medicine Higher Education Course totally free of charge. The course is organized by the Medicina Familiar Foundation at the Hospital Italiano in Buenos Aires and lasts one year.

The course provides access to practical tools which are up-to-date and based on reliable scientific evidence concerning the management of the most prevalent health problems and is split into nine subject-oriented modules of text material which come with self-evaluation material designed and edited to enable distance students to learn and assimilate it easily. There is an IT-based support system called the Virtual Campus which works as a classroom involving all the members of the virtual education community (both teachers and students). This considerably reduces the sense of isolation which distance learners often experience.

Argentina currently faces a shortage of high quality nursing professionals which poses a serious threat to the population and the healthcare system.

In this context, the Bunge y Born Foundation and the Medicina Familiar Foundation of the Hospital Italiano are offering scholarships on a competitive basis so that nursing professionals and nursing auxiliaries can take the University-level distance learning Course on Nursing for Community and Family Health organized by PROFAM and the Introductory Course to Nursing for Community and Family Health organized by PROFAM, respectively, both totally free of charge.

Both six month courses include two modules and tutoring in a ‘virtual’ online classroom.

The Bunge y Born Foundation and the Foundation of the Dr. Juan .P. Garrahan Pediatrics Hospital have donated state-of-the-art pediatrics surgical equipment for the Surgery Center at the hospital.

The donation includes equipment for arthroscopic surgery, including a cart, a 19” PAL/NTSC color system desktop flat screen, an LC control unit and an arthroscopic Shaver to be used on all joints, as well as advanced image and video-sequencing archives which include a CPU, sound-card, keyboard, mouse, AIDA Compact II software and touch screen.

The equipment, used to carry out minimally invasive procedures, was presented at a ceremony held at the Surgery Center at the Garrahan Hospital headed up by Dr Marcela Bailez. It was also attended by Dr. Ludovico Videla, Executive Director of the Bunge y Born Foundation, the accountant Beatriz Resnik and Dr. Silvia Kassab, responsible for public affairs and executive director of the Garrahan Foundation.

The awards were set up by Mrs Eva Minsker de Villar in memory of her husband, who was formerly on the board of Bunge y Born. The awards are granted to students reading medicine at the Favaloro University and at the CEMIC University Institute, as well as those studying Nursing at the Austral University. Those interested may apply directly to the institutions concerned which forwards the applications to the Bunge y Born Foundation for final selection.

These awards, managed by the Bunge y Born Foundation, are for children and young people with hearing difficulties and mean that FANDA, the Foundation to support children with hearing disabilities, can provide the attention they need for diagnosis and treatment. This includes the provision of hearing aids, as well as their maintenance and repair. The work at the Foundation is undertaken by a team of experts and aims to help with rehabilitation, schooling and social integration so that the children’s disabilities do not turn into inabilities.

On 26 October 2012 the founder and president of FANDA, Gina Romano, was honored in France with the Vermeil Medal for his dedication and solidarity to the comunity. Since 1908, the award is given to those who have dedicated their private and public life, with love and passion for the good of the people and social progress in all areas of life. The Bunge y Born Foundation is proud to work side by side for more than five years with institutions like Gina Romano presiding.

This is a non-governmental organization which works towards the community organization and integrated development of marginal sectors in the city of Santa Fe. It develops different initiatives aimed at finding answer to the structural problems experienced by the poorest sectors.
The Bunge y Born Foundation works with the part of the organization managing the nutrition and health of children and mothers living in conditions of extreme poverty. The objective here is to prevent the malnutrition of children under five years old and pregnant women by carrying out regular health and nutrition medical checks. The task is being carried out in the 19 playschools and 12 health centers run by the organization.

The Bunge y Born Foundation is sponsoring two of the forty-six rooms with private bathrooms at the Garrahan House. These rooms are for children and their parents who come from the provinces and need to spend time in Buenos Aires for the purposes of receiving special treatment at the various pediatric hospitals in the city.


At the same time, the Bunge y Born Foundation is running the Center for Play Experiences for the Family whose program includes talks, workshops and play meetings for mothers, children and teenagers staying at Casa Garrahan. The main aim of this initiative is to reposition the importance of play as part of childhood development particularly during prolonged medical treatment, operations or hospital stays through practical proposals which contribute to the quality of life of the families involved.


After each session, a description of the game played is handed over as well as the instructions required to build the toys so that the mothers have more tools to hand to continue playing with their children during different moments of the day. This serves as a bridge function to help them through the difficult health situation they face with their children. The activities developed to-date have shown that children and their mothers are taking part in these new activities with enthusiasm, dedication and creativity.

Construction of the new building which will have a surface area of approximately 510 meters square continues. The new center is split into three modules, one for children with onco-hematology diseases, another for children with HIV and a third for infectology cases in general. Each module will include two or three consulting rooms, a waiting room and restrooms to be used exclusively by each department. There will also be a parents’ information center and a procedures sector. The building will have its own access onto the street and at reception the patients will be directed to the appropriate department.

The funds contributed by the Bunge y Born Foundation to this initiative run by the Natalí Dafne Flexer Foundation, an NGO which provides assistance to children with cancer and their families, will help to cover the costs of the reinforced concrete required for the construction.

The new consulting rooms will allow children with low risk illnesses to receive medical attention as outpatients, avoiding the admittance units and zones at risk of contagion, also allowing the hospital the opportunity to use more beds for children at high risk.

The foundation stone was laid towards the end of 2008 in a ceremony attended by the Mayor of the City of Buenos Aires, Mauricio Macri, Jorge Lemus, the Minister of Health, Cristina Galoppo, the medical director of the Hospital, Edith Grynszpancholc, president of the Natalí Dafne Flexer Foundation and Jorge Born (son), president of the Bunge y Born Foundation. The ceremony was well attended by the general public as well as functionaries and professionals from the institutions involved.

Created in 2007, this award offers health professionals working in the interior of the country the opportunity to train and specialize in hematology once they have finished their residency in clinical medicine.

The professionals are chosen on a competitive basis to receive the Mario Hirsh award which allows them to complete a two-year residency at FUNDALEU (the renowned institution providing all-round treatment to patients with leukemia and other oncological blood diseases). The award, enabled by a generous contribution from Mrs Elena de Olazábal de Hirsch, covers their academic and accommodation expenses in Buenos Aires.