Style Fiji Donates $35,000 to Cure Kids Fiji Oxygen Project
For the second year in a row the Project Bula Mai committee, organisers of the annual Style Fiji Event today handed over a cheque for FJ$35,00 to Cure Kids Fiji to upscale the Fiji Oxygen Project, which aims to ensure that no child dies from lack of oxygen.
Severe pneumonia in children and severe newborn illnesses, for which oxygen is a life-saving treatment, are leading causes of death in Fiji with close to 200 children under the age of 5 dying each year.
For pneumonia, treating children with oxygen reduces death by 35%, yet many health facilities in Fiji don’t have a reliable supply.
In collaboration with the Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services and leading pediatric technical experts, Cure Kids are delivering new ways of improving the availability, affordability and clinical use of oxygen to save lives.
The project replaces oxygen cylinders in health centers – which are expensive, logistically difficult and often result in unreliable oxygen supplies – with bedside oxygen concentrators, which produce oxygen from the ambient air. For health centers with unreliable power supplies, a custom-designed solar power system is installed to ensure that a 24/7 supply of oxygen is available for patients who need it.
While support from the 2016 Style Fiji event allowed the Fiji Oxygen Project to be extended to Nabouwalu Hospital and Taveuni Hospital, funds raised from the 2017 event will help the Oxygen Project reach an additional three health centers by June next year.
“Cure Kids Fiji is very grateful to have been the beneficiary of this successful event for two years now and we look forward to extending our vital Oxygen Program for a greater impact on the health of Fijian children”, says Jennifer Miller, Cure Kids Fiji.
“On behalf of the children and communities who benefit from the Oxygen Program I would like to express sincere appreciation to the Style Fiji committee for their ongoing support and wish them all the best for another successful event in 2018.”
Read more: