CCRF schedules its 20th airlift; supplies are bound for six cities (11/08/98)

CCRF schedules its 20th airlift; supplies are bound for six cities

SHORT HILLS, N.J. - The Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund has scheduled its 20th medical airlift for November 11. The shipment will deliver more than $3.5 million worth of hospital equipment, surgical supplies and medication to 12 hospitals and orphanages in six Ukrainian cities. The airlift will lay the groundwork for the second phase of the CCRF's Women's and Children's Health Initiative, a project designated to reduce infant mortality in three targeted regions of Ukraine.

Last year, with the aid of a major grant from Monsanto, the CCRF created a model neonatal intensive care unit in the industrial city of Dnipropetrovsk. The technology and training provided by the CCRF and Monsanto helped reduce infant mortality in this medical center by nearly half (from 43 percent to 26 percent).

The cargo to be shipped on November 11 includes state-of-the-art neonatal incubators, intensive care respirators, cancer medications, intravenous antibiotics, infant catheters, surgical instruments, chemotherapeutic drugs, children's vitamins and diagnostic equipment. The largest contributor to the airlift is the Catholic Medical Mission Board of New York, which donated large quantities of assorted medicines and intravenous solutions for infant intensive care.

Other large contributors include local CCRF chapters in Hartford and New Haven, Conn., and Rochester, N.Y., which contributed $56,000 to support this relief mission. These funds were used to procure a complete emergency transport system for infants and newborns, including a transport incubator with ventilator, pulse oximeter and emergency supplies destined for the Vinnytsia Regional Children's Hospital in south central Ukraine.

Other life-saving cargo has been assigned to hospitals in the cities of Donetsk, Svitlovodsk, Lviv, Kyiv, Lutsk and Dnipropetrovsk. Among the most valuable items to be installed are a Hewlett Packard cardiograph provided by the Detroit chapter of the CCRF, surgical instruments, gloves and syringes from Becton-Dickenson, a blood chemistry analyzer, anesthesia machine, blood culture instrument, computers and leukemic medication.

"This will be one of the largest airlifts we have ever executed," said Orest Dubno, chairman of the CCRF board of directors, "and once these supplies are delivered, they should have a major impact on the quality of medical care in these cities."

In addition to essential pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, the CCRF will also deliver stuffed toys and teddy bears donated by the Vermont Teddy Bear Co. and the 4-H Club of Binghamton, N.Y., blankets and baby warmers provided by Augustine Medical Corp. of Minnesota and eyeglasses donated by "New Eyes for the Needy" and by the San Diego Committee to Aid Ukrainian Orphans. These items will be distributed in various orphanages and maternity clinics.

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