Slain ambassador's sister helps launch health partnership with Libya

By Julian Pecquet - 02/14/13 04:02 PM ET

The sister of slain U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens has created a partnership between American medical establishments and the government of Libya to improve medical care for the impoverished north African nation's children and families.

Anne Stevens, a pediatrist at Seattle Children’s Hospital, launched the Health Education Across Libya for Children Initiative (HEAL Children Initiative) earlier this week in memory of her brother, who died along with three other Americans during last September's attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi. The partnership between Seattle Children’s, Massachusetts General Hospital and the Benghazi Medical Center is supported by the J. Christopher Stevens Memorial Fund and the Libyan Government.

Massachusetts General Hospital's involvement is linked to Dr. Thomas Burke, an emergency physician who oversees some of the hospital’s global health programs and was scheduled to meet with Ambassador Christopher Stevens in Libya the day after he died, The Boston Globe reported at the time.

"It’s currently not safe for me to travel to Benghazi," Anne Stevens wrote in a blog post Wednesday. "But in the meantime, I look forward to establishing this partnership and project to honor Chris and to help advance some of the work he started."

Libya's ambassador to the United States, Ali Aujali, attended the launch Tuesday in Boston.

“Partnerships in the healthcare sector are especially critical to Libya’s future,” Aujali writes in an op-ed calling on the United States and the international community to help “win the peace” in Libya. “We need the West’s help in creating a health care system that provides world-class care for all Libyans.”

The op-ed will run Friday in The Hill ahead of the two-year anniversary of the start of the uprising that toppled Moammar Gadhafi.

“The HEAL Children Initiative will provide Libyan doctors the resources and expertise to develop effective emergency care programs for children and families,” write Aujali. “The first part of this initiative is the establishment of a national Poison Control Center at Benghazi Medical Center.”

The anniversary comes as a number of Republican lawmakers – led by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) – have called for a halt to U.S. aid to Libya unless the government shows progress in arresting those responsible for the attack. Five months after the assault, no one has been charged with the crime.