Queen Rania Visits Children's Ward at Charite' Hospital in Berlin

October 23, 2002

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department - Berlin) As part of their Majesties State Visit to Germany, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah, accompanied by German First Lady visited the Charité Hospital in Berlin where they were received by Gerhard Gaedicke, Director of the Pediatric ward.

During the tour, Queen Rania visited the "Linked-up World for Children" project that was launched by the hospital in 1998 to provide children in hospitals with network computers that allow them to interact with other children outside the hospital and in different parts of Europe.

After touring the hospital, Queen Rania discussed the possibility for future exchange of information and expertise between the two countries, especially in the field of medical research and cancer treatment.

Also present, were Joachim Dudenhausen, Dean of the hospital, and Manfor Dietel, Medical Director. Charité Hospital, which is the largest university hospital in Europe, hosts an educational facility for 4,905 students in medicine, dentistry, nursing education and science, and medial physics.

It has 2,499 beds in 49 clinics and treats roughly 100,000 in-patients and 250,000 out-patients per year, with the support of 26 institutes. The hospital employs 7,563 people including 2,500 scientists.

On Tuesday, Queen Rania, who established Dar Al-Aman, the first child abuse shelter in the Arab World, met with Norbert Schweers, director of the City of Potsdam's Youth and Welfare Department. Queen Rania expressed special interest in the protective measures taken by the department to help prevent abuse, neglect and maltreatment of children and youth.

Also present at the meeting was Birgit Hacker, who heads the Eva Laube Children's Home, one of the child safety homes of the Youth and Welfare Department.

During the meeting, Queen Rania discussed the possibility of mutual exchange of information and expertise between Jordanian experts and their German counterparts as well as the possibility of developing training courses for these experts at specialized German centers.