Our Story
Over 25 years of service, standing by the poorest of the poor.
GICAM (Groupe International Chirurgiens Amis de la Main) was founded in 1998 as an international non-governmental organisation (NGO). In 2023, it became a Foundation, based in Lugano, Switzerland.
In 28 years of activity, GICAM has carried out 95 missions, involving 264 volunteers from 12 different nationalities. The missions have taken place in 11 countries — including Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Togo, Tanzania, Uganda, India, Ecuador and Laos — providing medical care to 77,100 patients and performing 11,180 surgical procedures for people affected by hand disabilities.
The Foundation promotes humanitarian programmes specialised in hand surgery and reconstructive microsurgery in the most disadvantaged countries of Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and South America. Until 2015, GICAM focused its activities exclusively in Africa. In 2016, it expanded to India and, from 2023, to South America. As of March 2026, the Foundation has further extended its scope of action to include Laos.
Through these procedures, our multidisciplinary team – composed of surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses and hand therapists – restores hand function in people affected by congenital malformations, burns, trauma and paralysis.
Our mission is to restore autonomy and dignity, particularly for women and children who live in situations of extreme need and without access to adequate care.
Each mission involves a multidisciplinary team of professionals with complementary skills, ensuring a comprehensive approach to patient care. The Foundation's international character is reflected in the composition of its teams, which include volunteers from Switzerland, Italy, the Czech Republic, Australia, the United States, France, Germany, Belgium, Malawi and Uganda.
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Missions typically last one to two weeks and are carried out in close collaboration with local hospital staff, who are supported and trained throughout all clinical and surgical activities.