The Galician surgeon Diego González Rivas presented the mobile surgical unit developed by the Aragon-based company ARPA on Wednesday 24th April 2024 on the Antena 3 programme El Hormiguero. This unit, the first of its kind in Spain, will enable Dr González Rivas and his team to carry out minimally invasive surgery on patients in Ghana.
The mobile surgical unit is equipped with the latest medical technology and has an operating theatre, a recovery room and a pre- and post-operative area. This will enable the medical team to perform complex operations safely and effectively in areas with limited healthcare resources.
The Diego González Rivas Foundation was set up with the aim of raising funds to enable the technique of Dr González Rivas to be taken to developing countries. The mobile surgical unit is the foundation's first major project and represents an important step towards addressing the inequality of access to healthcare around the world.
The presentation of the mobile surgical unit on the TV programme El Hormiguero has had a great media impact and has served to publicise the work of the Diego González Rivas Foundation and Dr González Rivas. The unit is expected to start operating in Ghana in the coming months. The unit will return to ARPA (the Spanish acronym for the Foundation) to finish getting it ready.