Dear Dr Janikowski
I am writing to let you know that the generous donation from the Rotary Club of Picton was used to provide an oxygen concentrator to treat patients at Kapiri District Hospital in Zambia. This concentrator has been specially adapted for use with babies and young children with breathing difficulties for the specialist baby unit.
Oxygen is the single most important medicine for treating critically ill patients but it is scarce in many hospitals in LMICs. Oxygen is usually supplied in cylinders that are expensive and often run out. Preterm and newborn babies with breathing difficulties need treatment with oxygen. So do, infants with pneumonia, the biggest infectious killer of children worldwide. Oxygen is unaffordable for many people in LMICs. Parents who cannot pay for vital oxygen may watch their child die as a result.
Your donation provided an oxygen concentrator machine for Dr Leah Seaman who moved from the UK to Zambia in 2015 with her husband and children. Their church has helped them to raise sufficient funds for a special baby care unit at Kapiri District Hospital that is rapidly expanding. You can watch their appeal video for this on Vimeo here: https://vimeo.com/559870880
The baby unit is currently very overcrowded with 29 babies. Oxygen supplies are not reliable and Dr Leah had only one oxygen concentrator CPAP device that generates its own oxygen from air. This is in constant use but can only be used to treat one baby at a time. Dr Leah was desperate to obtain a second one, as all too often difficult choices had to be made as to which baby would receive treatment and survive.
She was overjoyed to receive the donated oxygen concentrator CPAP thanks to Picton Rotary and told us that the machine was unpacked and in use within an hour of arriving at the hospital. The staff are all trained and competent at using the device. They too are extremely grateful to have this extra resource that will enable them to save more babies and infants. Please see attached photos.
Dr Leah covered the cost of the delivery herself and has undertaken to cover any running costs, consumables and spare parts, to ensure the equipment is kept functioning and saving lives for many years to come.
Please pass on our thanks to everyone in your Rotary Club for this wonderful gift.
All good wishes of the Season
Carol
Carol Newman
Secretary, Safe Anaesthesia WorldwideWhite Lyon House, Marden, Kent TN12 9DR, UK.
Registered Charity Number 1148254
Tel: +44 (0)7527506969@Safe_4_all
