CCRF receives $25,000 grant for medical conferences in Ukraine (05/05/02)

CCRF receives $25,000 grant for medical conferences in Ukraine

SHORT HILLS, N.J. - The Minneapolis-based Medtronic Founda-tion has awarded a $25,000 grant to the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund (CCRF) to help finance two medical conferences being organized for the fall of 2002. In a letter that arrived on April 12, the Medtronic Foundation Executive Director Penny Hunt expressed her support for CCRF's plans to hold a national conference on infant cardiac surgery and a second on neonatal intensive care. The grant was awarded under the Founda-tion's "Healthy Countries" program that strives to improve health care programs in developing countries.

"We are extremely pleased that the Medtronic Foundation has agreed to support this program," said Irene Oleksiak, grant writer for CCRF, who authored the proposal. "There are hundreds of doctors who would benefit from the hands-on training and insights provided by American specialists."

CCRF has now sponsored six medical training conferences in Ukraine since 1996 - most focusing on neonatology and pediatric oncology. Local doctors in Poltava, Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk have credited these conferences with helping them to reduce the rate of infant mortality in their hospitals.

On April 24, CCRF will be hosting its third National Conference on Neonatal Intensive Care at the Pushcha Ozerna sanatorium outside of Kyiv. The conference is expected to draw over 200 doctors from all oblasts of Ukraine, as well as the Crimean Autonomous Republic.

Each participant will receive a copy of the comprehensive "Manual of Neonatology" by Cloherty et al, a publication of Lippincott-Raven that granted CCRF permission to translate its text into Ukrainian.

The Cloherty manual was published with the help of generous donations from Andriy Kurylko of Tyrone, Pa., and Col. Yaropolk Hladkyj of Monu-ment, Colo. The April conference was partially underwritten by corporate grants from Procter & Gamble, Nestle's, Paramed-Ohmeda and NZ Techno of Austria.

With the funds provided by Medtronic, CCRF hopes to translate and publish additional materials for use in Ukrainian hospitals. CCRF is seeking $28,000 in matching funds from additional sources to support medical conferences that will help maximize the impact of the fund's medical shipments and technology infusion.

"At CCRF we are committed to a radical transformation of the health care system in Ukraine," said Executive Director Alexander Kuzma. "The doctors at the partner hospitals we have selected are remarkably motivated, resourceful and devoted to their mission of saving children's lives. We need to provide them with the tools and training they need to achieve a higher standard of care. Over and over again, we have seen that, when provided with proper technology, they are able to work wonders for their patients."

Since 1990, CCRF has launched 30 airlifts and 11 sea shipments to Ukraine, where children continue to suffer from an abnormally high rate of thyroid cancer, infant mortality and birth defects as a result of the 1986 nuclear disaster at Chornobyl. According to health experts at the United Nations, Ukraine has experienced a dramatic loss of population as well as high infertility and maternal mortality.

Individuals interested in supporting CCRF's medical training programs are urged to call (973) 376-5140 or (203) 387-0507. Tax-deductible contributions may be forwarded to CCRF, 272 Old Short Hills Road, Short Hills, NJ 07078.

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