In 1998 Emergency opened a Surgical Centre in Battambang, in the North, to provide medical and surgical assistance to the victims of war and landmines.
Because children were no longer vaccinated during the war, the country has seen a steep rise in the number of polio victims. Moreover, some of the weapons used by the American Air Force, in particular Agent Orange, would appear to be responsible for genetic malformations such as harelips, cleft palates and syndactyly (webbed fingers and toes).
Therefore, Emergency decided, from 2002, to extend its activities to include plastic and reconstructive surgery.In 2005 the hospital began treating surgical emergencies and trauma in a country with one of the worst health systems in Asia: less than 25% of the population has access to health care facilities and there is no free health system.
The international personnel in Battambang provide training for local staff: Pol Pot's regime murdered all medical personnel and today Cambodia lacks both financial resources and an effective training system.
Training courses for physiotherapists and nurses as well as interns and resident doctors from the University of Phnom Penh are held in the Emergency Centre in Battambang.The hospital is named after Ilaria Alpi, an Italian journalist killed in Somalia.