Gino Strada



Gino Strada (b. Luigi Strada April 21, 1948 in Sesto San Giovanni-Milan, Italy) is a war surgeon and founder of the UN-recognized Italian NGO Emergency. Emergency operates in thirteen war-torn countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Cambodia, Rwanda.

Biography
He graduated in Medicine and trauma surgery at University of Milan in 1978. During his undergraduate years, he was also a prominent leader for the security service of the Marxist-Leninist student organization Movimento Studentesco. Dr. Strada was practicing as a heart transplant surgeon until 1988, when he redirected his experience to trauma surgery and the care of war victims. From 1989-1994, he worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in conflict zones in Pakistan, Ethiopia, Peru, Afghanistan, Somalia and Bosnia.

That field experience motivated Dr. Strada and a group of colleagues to establish Emergency, a humanitarian organization with its headquarter in Milan (Italy), which has provided its service to more than 2,500,000 patients by the end of 2006.

Emergency claims that it helps civilian victims of war without being hindered by bureaucracy. In 1996, Emergency opened its first hospital in Iraqi Kurdistan. Today, Emergency operates eight hospitals in areas of conflict, including a surgical hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and a hospital in Lashkar-Gah, Afghanistan. Fifty four "First Aid Posts-Health Care Centers", located in heavily mined areas or close to the front lines, are connected to the Emergency hospitals' network.

Dr. Strada is the prize winning author of Green Parrots, A War Surgeon’s Diary and Buskashi, A Journey Inside War,. His work was the subject of an award winning documentary “Jung in the Land of the Mujaheedin” and a PBS Point of View, “Afghanistan 1380”.

Controversy
In Italy, Gino Strada is taking increasingly critical positions against the current government coalition led by Romano Prodi and its perceived shortcomings. Most of the grievances are related to the Italian support of the UN sanctioned-NATO led intervention in Afghanistan against the former Taliban tyranny (see War in Afghanistan (2001-present)). These actions are perceived by Gino Strada and its organization as an act of war against the Afghani people in open violation of the letter and spirit of the Constitution of Italy. On the other hand, many pundits dismiss Gino Strada's position as a mere example of utopian radical pacifism.

Books

 * Strada Gino Buskashi. Viaggio dentro la guerra (A Journey inside war), 2003, ISBN 88-07170698.
 * Strada Gino, Zinn Howard Green Parrots. A war surgeon's diary, 2004, ISBN 88-81585243.
 * Zinn Howard, Strada Gino Just war, 2005, ISBN 88-81585723.