For twenty years we have been committed to improving health in the world.

For twenty years we have been committed to improving health in the world.

Our story

The Paolo Chiesi Foundation is a philanthropic organization established by Paolo Chiesi and his family, inspired by the belief that every person has the right to access quality healthcare and live a healthy life.

It aims to reduce neonatal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa and improve the health of patients affected by chronic respiratory diseases in the Global South.​

The Foundation supports international scientific research and local development programs to transfer medical-scientific knowledge and to empower families in the healthcare process, promoting sustainable growth and strengthening local communities’ responsibility and engagement.​

Founded in Parma (Italy) in 2005 and operational since 2010, the Paolo Chiesi Foundation operates today in Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Guyana, Ivory Coast, Nepal, Peru, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda.​

Neonatologia - Chiesi Foundation

In 2030, at a global level, the Paolo Chiesi Foundation is the main actor in the implementation of the NEST and GASP models, two effective and sustainable models in the management of quality neonatal care and chronic respiratory diseases in the countries of the Global South, respectively. The implementation of the two models within the reference healthcare facilities improves access to quality care, in particular for premature, sick or underweight babies through the NEST Model and for patients affected by chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and COPD through the GASP Model. Through the implementation of these two models, the Paolo Chiesi Foundation will generate a cultural change and empower the healthcare workforce of the future. As climate change represents one of the greatest threats to global health with immediate and long-term consequences, especially for the most vulnerable populations, the Paolo Chiesi Foundation takes concrete actions towards the climate crisis, as stated in the NEST and GASP models. The principles of equity and women’s empowerment are at the heart of the work carried out by the Paolo Chiesi Foundation.

The Paolo Chiesi Foundation works to improve the quality of life of patients and their families affected by neonatal and chronic respiratory diseases in the Global South through cost-effective interventions:

  1. providing a package of innovative and sustainable technologies for healthcare facilities
  2. providing technical support and capacity building for health workers and the empowerment of patients and their families
  3. supporting the creation of a hub & spoke model and developing a perinatal network of health facilities
  4. creating a strategic partnership with local and international stakeholders
  5. improving data quality.

The Paolo Chiesi Foundation works in close collaboration with local governments and ministries of health, hospitals and health workers, mothers and newborns and their families, universities, NGOs and development actors.

Our values

Sense of responsibility towards society and the environment .

Dissemination of scientific knowledge without borders or restrictions

Equity through caring for those who suffer

Our areas of intervention

Neonatology

The NEST Model – Neonatal Essentials for Survival and Thriving – is a program developed and implemented in collaboration with several hospitals, NGOs, institutions, and universities. It aims to contribute to improving access to quality neonatal care in sub-Saharan African countries, with a particular focus on French-speaking countries.

Pulmonology

The GASP Model – Global Access to Sustainable Pulmonology involves the development of a model of diagnostic and clinical skills specific to the management of chronic respiratory diseases, with particular reference to asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The model is currently active in Guyana, Nepal, and Peru.

Maria Paola Chiesi

“We are committed to improving the health and alleviating the suffering of patients affected by respiratory diseases and neonatal pathologies, improving the quality of life for them and their families.”

Maria Paola Chiesi, President Paolo Chiesi Foundation

Strategy

During 2021, the Paolo Chiesi Foundation started a strategic review process to define new objectives and lines of action for the near future. Our strategy for the next 10 years is to improve and adapt our organizational model in an international context in continuous and progressive change.

Neonatologia - Chiesi Foundation
Sud Globale - Chiesi Foundation

We promote scientific research in the field of neonatal and respiratory health.

Through our programs, the Foundation wants to portray a role as a catalyst of ideas, tools, and resources, and facilitate dialogue and relationships between the different stakeholders involved.

We contribute to the development of the countries of the South of the world, through the transfer of scientific means and knowledge.

We work to ensure that NEST and GASP models are recognized at an institutional level as effective, sustainable, and replicable models in countries where there is most need, to create virtuous circles of development.

We support projects that promote the full realization of the right to health of the most needy populations.

We collect and analyze data, evidence and practices that allow constant comparison and comparison with all our stakeholders to improve access and quality of service offered in the field of neonatology and pulmonology.

Neonatologia - Chiesi Foundation

We promote scientific research in the field of neonatal and respiratory health.

Through our programs, the Foundation wants to portray a role as a catalyst of ideas, tools and resources and facilitate dialogue and relationships between the different stakeholders involved.

We contribute to the development of the countries of the South of the world, through the transfer of scientific means and knowledge.

We work to ensure that NEST and GASP programs are recognized at an institutional level as effective, sustainable and replicable models in countries where there is most need, to create virtuous circles of development.

We support projects that promote the full realization of the right to health of the most needy populations.

We collect and analyze data, evidence and practices that allow constant comparison and comparison with all our stakeholders to improve access and quality of service offered in the field of neonatology and pulmonology.

Sud Globale - Chiesi Foundation

The strategic axes

The first strategic axis concerns the organizational role of the Paolo Chiesi Foundation as a reference player for the implementation and dissemination of the NEST and GASP models.

The Foundation increasingly assumes the role of a catalyst of ideas, tools and resources and facilitates dialogue and relationships between the various stakeholders and the different partners involved in the implementation of the two models.

Aware of the ever-increasing role that philanthropic actors play in the context of international cooperation, the Paolo Chiesi Foundation has initiated a process of institutional recognition that has led to its accreditation with the Italian Agency for International Cooperation and the International Cooperation Office of the Emilia-Romagna Region.

At the same time, coordination and collaboration activities with the World Health Organization have intensified, especially with regard to the implementation of the NEST Model and the definition of strategic partnerships with some internationally recognized actors.

The second strategic axis concerns the institutional recognition of NEST and GASP as effective, sustainable and replicable models in low- and medium-resource countries. Both models are designed to be integrated in support of the ministerial guidelines of the countries where the Paolo Chiesi Foundation operates.

The involvement of institutional actors on multiple levels is the basis of the work that, as a Foundation, we are bringing to the various countries. This approach allows us to see our work recognized, but above all, it gives sustainability to the actions financed by the Paolo Chiesi Foundation.

The third strategic axis concerns the Data-driven Quality Improvement approach applied to the life cycle of our interventions.

This not only allows us to better understand errors and gaps to set corrective and preventive actions and trigger a quality improvement process, but it also aims to generate evidence regarding effective methods and tools to improve the availability, quality and use of data in the neonatal and respiratory fields, so as to contribute to improving patient health and generate effective, sustainable and reproducible models based on scientific evidence.

Objectives, results and transparency

Objectives, results and transparency