CCRF publishes Ukrainian version of comprehensive Manual of Neonatology (06/30/02)

CCRF publishes Ukrainian version of comprehensive Manual of Neonatology

SHORT HILLS, N.J. - This spring, the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund, an award-winning charity based in Short Hills, N.J., obtained permission from the Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins Publishing Co. to publish a Ukrainian-language version of a comprehensive 700-page Manual of Neonatology. The manual, edited by John P. Cloherty, M.D. and Ann R. Stark, M.D. is widely considered to be the most useful handbook on neonatal intensive care among U.S. doctors. It was originally published through a joint program in neonatology at the Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Children's Hospital of Boston. After obtaining copyright permission from Lippincott Publishers in February, CCRF retained the services of Ukrainian translators based at the Kyiv Medical Institute to translate all 72 articles under the supervision of neonatal intensive care specialists. The project was completed in time to distribute free copies of the manual to all 250 doctors who attended the third national Neonatal Training Conference sponsored by CCRF at the Pushcha Ozerna Sanatorium in Kyiv on April 24-25.

"This manual was greeted with tremendous enthusiasm," said Olena Welhasch, CCRF program director. "The conference participants couldn't wait to get their hands on it, and there is no question that it will be enormously helpful in their treatment of newborn infants suffering from various complications." Ms. Welhasch helped to oversee the project along with CCRF's Ukraine country director, Olena Maslyukivska.

"We're deeply grateful to all the sponsors who helped to finance the translation and publication of this valuable text," said Dr. Zenon Matkiwsky, the co-founder of CCRF and chairman of its board of directors. "Neonatal intensive care is a fairly young specialty in the Ukrainian medical system, and intensive physician training is an essential component in proper neonatal care."

In recent years, CCRF has delivered state-of-the-art neonatal equipment to several of its partner hospitals and established six model neonatal units in the cities of Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Lutsk, Lviv, Rivne and most recently in Odesa. The Odessa neonatal unit was financed through proceeds from the "Viktory for Kids" charity ice skating event hosted by Olympic and World Champion Viktor Petrenko.

In several hospitals, which received training and new technology from CCRF, local doctors have been able to reduce infant mortality by as much as 46 percent to 80 percent, even while expanding services and treating lower birth-weight babies with more difficult complications.

The Ukrainian translation of the Manual of Neonatal Care and the CCRF neonatal training conference in Puscha Ozerna were financed with generous gifts from Col. Yaropolk Hladkyj of Monument, Colo., Andrij Kurylko of Tyrone, Pa., and another, anonymous donor. Major funding was also received from several corporate sponsors, including Procter & Gamble, Paramed (Ohmeda), Nestle's Corp. and NZ Techno.

CCRF is now planning more physicians' training conferences for this fall with a focus on the early diagnosis of congenital heart defects, infant cardiac surgery and postoperative intensive care. CCRF has received a $25,000 grant from the Medtronic Foundation of Minneapolis to cover a large portion of the conference costs. CCRF hopes to obtain matching grants for the publication of other medical training manuals. Tax-deductible donations may be sent to CCRF, 272 Old Short Hills Road, Short Hills, NJ 07078. For information on planned gifts and major bequests, donors are urged to contact Alexander Kuzma at (203) 387-0507.

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