Save the Children announces major investment in neonatology ward equipment for 45 Romanian hospitals
The lack of state-of-the-art medical equipment, a large number of pregnancies not medically attended, and the long distances in disadvantaged areas to the first suitably equipped hospital, contribute to the increase in infant mortality, ranking Romania first place in the European Union.
According to data centralized at the EU level for 2020, Romania has the highest infant mortality rate in the EU (5.6 per thousand live births), followed by Bulgaria and Slovakia (both with a rate of 5.1 per thousand); at the other end of the scale are Estonia (1.4 per thousand live births) and Finland (1.8 per thousand). In absolute numbers, 1,008 babies under one year of age died in 2021 in Romania, and many of these deaths could be prevented by access to healthcare during pregnancy and by equipping maternity wards and neonatal wards with high-performance medical equipment.
For this reason, Save the Children is accelerating its program to combat infant mortality and is announcing a major investment of EUR 1 million in 45 neonatal wards in 28 counties: Alba, Argeș, Arad, Bihor, Botoșani, Brăila, Brașov, Buzău, Caraș-Severin, Dâmbovița, Dolj, Galați, Harghita, Hunedoara, Iași, Maramureș, Mureș, Neamț, Prahova, Olt, Sălaj, Satu-Mare, Sibiu, Suceava, Timiș, Tulcea, and Vaslui.
Thus, through the Together from Day One program, funded by the OMV Petrom Foundation, doctors will have at their disposal state-of-the-art medical devices and equipment, vital for saving and caring for premature newborns or those with complex pathologies. The needs submitted by the medical units are diverse: from new-generation neonatal ventilators to resuscitation tables, incubators and other advanced medical equipment.
Since 2010, Save the Children has equipped 105 medical units (neonatal wards, neonatal intensive care units, pediatric wards, and obstetrics and gynecology wards) in all counties of the country with more than 1020 pieces of vital equipment, investing more than EUR 8,500,000.
Save the Children Romania has also started an extensive process of rehabilitation of the Operating Block and Intensive Care Unit of the Polizu Maternity Hospital, within the Alessandrescu-Rusescu National Institute for Mother and Child Health.
The Polizu Maternity Hospital is important in the field of maternal and child health in Romania, as women from all over the country come to give birth here, and pregnant women with various maternal-fetal diseases, cases requiring intervention for babies from the first seconds of life or women with various gynecological pathologies are treated here.
Companies can invest in the lives of newborns in need of urgent and quality medical care by signing a sponsorship contract, and individuals can donate online here.
(Photo source: Save the Children Romania)
