CCRF sends 28th airlift to Ukraine (06/10/01)

CCRF sends 28th airlift to Ukraine

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund's 28th medical airlift departed for Ukraine on May 22. The shipment delivered more than seven tons of medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and hospital supplies valued at $1.25 million to hospitals and orphanages in eight Ukrainian cities.

Among the most valuable aid to be delivered is state-of-the-art neonatal intensive care equipment for Rivne, Odesa and Yavoriv, and surgical supplies for the Amosov Institute in Kyiv, where the majority of infant cardiac surgeries in Ukraine are performed.

A large volume of medications and hospital supplies was provided by the Catholic Medical Mission Board, MAP International, and Interchurch Medical Assistance. The airlift also included wheelchairs and essential supplies for several orphanages adopted by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under a special grant administered by CCRF.

"This airlift commemorates the 15th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster - the explosion at the Chornobyl nuclear reactor in 1986," said Dr. Zenon Matkiwsky, president and co-founder of CCRF. "Our aim is to improve Ukraine's medical system, specifically with programs that will lower infant mortality, treat children with cancer, and aid disabled children who were born with various conditions attributed to radiation exposure."

CCRF, which has offices in Short Hills, N.J., and New Haven, Conn., has delivered over 1,300 tons of aid valued at $47 million to hospitals and children's health centers in Eastern Europe.

The May airlift coincided with a separate shipment of over $100,000 worth of intensive care equipment that will be installed in the Odesa Regional Children's Hospital as part of the "Viktory For Kids" initiative organized by Olympic skating champion Viktor Petrenko. In March, Mr. Petrenko and an international all-star cast helped raise over $100,000 for the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund in two sold-out performances at the International Skating Center of Connecticut. The proceeds from this event have been designated for the creation of the Viktor Petrenko Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Odesa, the champion's hometown.

"We hope to complete the first phase of this neonatal unit by the end of the summer," said Alexander Kuzma, CCRF executive director. The fund has already secured intensive care respirators, pulse oxymeters, infant warmers and other specialized supplies with the help of funds raised at the "Viktory for Kids" gala. "Our goal is to sharply reduce infant mortality at this hospital, and to give these newborns a fighting chance against a wide range of life-threatening complications," said Mr. Kuzma.

This will be the seventh model neonatal center established by CCRF. In several partner hospitals equipped by the fund, local doctors have been able to improve survival rates by 50 to 80 percent thanks to technology and training provided by American doctors and manufacturers.

On May 23-25 in Kyiv, CCRF co-sponsored a national medical conference on thyroid cancer that was hosted by the National Institute of Endocrinology and financed in part by a grant from Knoll Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Abbott Laboratories. Thyroid cancer rates in Ukraine and Belarus have skyrocketed in the wake of the Chornobyl disaster. Knoll is providing over $600,000 worth of hormone replacement medication (Synthroid-thyroxin) for children whose thyroid glands have been removed following cancer surgery.

To make a tax-deductible contribution to CCRF, write to: Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund, 272 Old Short Hills Road, Short Hills, NJ 07078. For further information, readers are urged to contact the national office at (973) 376-5140 or to visit the CCRF website at www.childrenofchornobyl.org.

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