Neonatal Equipment

Rotarians in Egypt and the United States are helping doctors at a pediatric hospital in Cairo save the lives of hundreds of premature babies each year through the gift of lifesaving neonatal equipment.

The hospital treats 1 million patients per year and suffers from overcrowding and lack of equipment. Most of the hospital’s patients are from poor or underserved families. The mortality rate has reached 25 percent among all patients and 5 percent for gastric patients.

Wanting to reduce the number of infant deaths, the Egyptian Rotarians asked the hospital’s doctors how they could help. The club and its US partner club applied for a Foundation grant and raised funds for the US$23,000 project, which purchased a defibrillator, ventilator, infusion pump, syringe pump, and diagnostic devices.