[Hospitals transfers of children of Maghreb countries. Reflections on current problems and short- and long-term solutions].

Every year, several thousands of North African children receive transfers to France for hospitalization. The need for these medical transfers is linked to a rapidly expending population, improving diagnostic techniques and inadequate therapeutic technology. Affected children are referred most often for cardiac and oncological diseases. Efforts have been made to discern the medical indications for such transfers, to facilitate the acceptance by social aid agencies and to provide the best possible psychosocial and educational settings for the children involved. Yet, many problems remain, such as advanced disease states and associated diseases at the time of transfer, affective disorders, worsened by the prolonged stay in hospital. Solutions must be found for these problems. Examples would include close collaboration between referred North African and French medical teams, and the existence in France of cultural environment sensitive to the needs to the North African patients. Because transfers are responsible for a high financial and affective cost, and for a dependent relationship between countries, long-term solutions must be considered and could include the transfer of technology and cooperation in research rather than medical care.