The cooperative movement at the service of social medicine
The health insurer continues to offer free healthcare coverage as part of a programme, launched in 2018, which has enabled 18 young people to resume their university studies interrupted by the war.
Assistència Sanitària has recently renewed its commitment to the programme to welcome refugee students from Lebanon, an initiative promoted by the Catalan Government in collaboration with a number of universities and international organisations. Following the successive annual renewals, the insurer will continue to offer free medical coverage to the students who take part in this programme.
Since its inception, this collaboration has guaranteed access to health care - an essential condition for a student visa - to a total of 18 young refugees, mostly of Syrian origin, but also Palestinian and Pakistani, who fled the armed conflict in their countries of origin and were living in Lebanon. Thanks to this programme, they have been able to continue their higher education studies at several Catalan universities.
"As doctors, we believe in knowledge as a tool for transformation. This agreement is a natural extension of our commitment to education and social improvement", declared Dr Ignacio Orce, President of Assistència Sanitària, when signing the new extension of this agreement.
Over the years, as part of the agreement which has made it possible, participants have gone on to complete their university degrees at institutions such as the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), the University of Barcelona (UB) and the University of Vic (UVic).
This agreement is part of Assistència Sanitària's corporate social responsibility policy, with the institutional backing of the Catalan Government’s Department of Social Rights and Inclusion, the Spanish Directorate-General for Migration and Refugees, and the participation of UNHCR and UNRWA.
In addition to medical coverage, participating students received support learning local languages, academic mentoring and personalized orientation, in an initiative which has played a key role in facilitating their integration and ongoing educational success in Catalonia.
Once again this year, Assistència Sanitària has held a diploma ceremony as part of its Scholarship Programme for Healthcare Professionals, which this academic year 2024-25 is reaching its seventeenth edition with a renewed commitment to the promotion of specialised training in the field of healthcare.