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Mothers’ and Children’s Center. How soon will it appear in Kyiv?

As informed earlier by the media, six months ago an all-Ukrainian action began to support the construction of the hospital of the future, Mothers’ and Children’s Center. The idea, initiated by the Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Fund, was unanimously approved by the Third Pediatrists’ Congress held last October in Kyiv. The President of Ukraine issued a decree on the need to found this center. Minister for Health Yuri Poliachenko and Head of the Supervisory Board of the Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Fund Kateryna Yushchenko laid a symbolic capsule at the future construction site in Feofaniya.

“There are some unreasonable people who doubt whether we need this Center at all,” President of the Pediatrists Association cum Corresponding Member of the Academy of Medical Sciences Yuri Antypkin told Silski visti.
“However, I must say it was truly a gift from above that there were people around who initiated the construction.
“Ukraine has an urgent need for such modern medical institution. To tell the truth, we have accomplished much in the healthcare system in the years of independence.
“However, we don’t have enough money to do all that needs to be done. We still have seriously ill children requiring treatment abroad. This means big money. So, the time has come when our country, striving to join the European community, needs a high-capacity hospital of its own, so that our children could receive treatment at home.”

“East or west, home is best, as they say”.

“That’s right. It’s proved scientifically, and pediatrists know this. The child will have a chance to see her parents, her family. Our Center will use state-of-the-art treatment methods, technologies, and designs. You know the situation in the modern pediatrics. Far from all hospitals can boast modern equipment in their wards. At our Center, gravely ill children will have a homelike atmosphere.
“I used to visit children’s hospitals abroad, in part, in Japan. I liked their Onco-Hematology Center. First, they have roomy wards for one. Everything is designed so that the little patient didn’t feel like in hospital. If he wants his favorite fairytale characters and toys in his ward, he’ll have them. I also noticed play tents staying next to the beds, where children can play or hide. Thus, a child with leukemia can feel right at home. We intend to recreate such atmosphere at our Center.
“The hospital will have capacious reanimation and surgery, intensive care unit, perinatal center, i.e. unit rendering assistance to pregnant women and newborns in the first week of their lives.

“Are many children being born with birth defects?”

“Unfortunately, they are. The number of such children is growing in almost all Ukraine’s oblasts. One could blame for this bad ecology or other factors. However, the fact is that children with birth defects aren’t always viable. Some of them require surgical operations immediately after birth. So, imagine such child being born in a rural maternity ward. You have to bring her to the oblast center. However, not every oblast center has surgeons with due skills, and defects can vary in their complexity. A surgeon has to be very experienced to correct a defect.
“Another problem is that often children’s hospitalization is belated, and a child can die because of the waste of the precious time.

“Our future Center will have special means of communication. Mobile teams will be on round-the-clock duty, ready to fly to the child by helicopter and bring it back with them. In a couple hour the child will be at our hospital, receiving necessary treatment. I believe this a progressive and proper step  toward developing mothers’ and children’s healthcare in this country. As a professional, I believe (and I think all Ukrainian pediatrists will second this) that this Center is an absolute must. This is our reserve, able to make difference in medical assistance for pregnant women and children of all ages, especially newborns.

“What kinds of pathologies will the Center deal with?”

“Cancer, genetic diseases, various blood diseases. In other words, the diseases pediatrists in the regions find it difficult to fight against. We don’t always have marrow transplant databases. We’ll create one at the Center. Thus, all children that now can be treated only abroad (which, once again, costs dearly) will be able to undergo treatment at our hospital. I hope this Center will save lives and health of many children.”

“What do you do to speed up the Center’s construction?”

“Recently we have held a telethon aired by almost all Ukrainian TV channels. This was my second telethon. The first one I hosted in Germany together with my colleagues, after the Chornobyl disaster, when we needed to bring children with serious immune disorders to German doctors for examination and, some of them, for treatment. The telethon had gathered a big audience. We, medical professionals, told them about helath problems of the Ukrainian children. At that time there were many sick children in Chernihiv and Kyiv oblasts.
“That telethon lasted around four hours, and when in the end we took a look at the computer we saw how many Germans had donated money for Chornobyl children immediately. So, now I took part in our Ukrainian telethon to raise funds for the Children’s Hospital of the Future. In one night many our fellow Ukrainians responded to our call, donating a considerable sum. I understand that everybody gave as much as he or she could. There were many calls to the 353 mobile number, where one call costs five hryvnias. All funds raised were used for the Center construction. I keep in touch with many doctors and nurses. They don’t make much money, but their social consciousness prompted them to contribute their mite. The medical workers understand how important is our action started with the help of the Ukraine 3000 Fund and how much it means for the children, the future of our country
“Few weeks ago the National Opera of Ukraine hosted a beneficent concert dedicated to the results of the holiday season in terms of supporting this Center. There were many businesspeople, as well as ordinary people. Everybody liked the concert, which also gave us an occasion to think about how we should live and how we should help sick children.”

“Obviously, such telethons and beneficent events will be held in the future as well.”

“Yes. I stay in contact with the Ukraine 3000 team. They are young people. I am glad to see how conscientious they are, how much they care about what we do. They tour all Ukraine’s oblast, meet with people, leaving no one indifferent to their words. This is the young generation caring about the future and striving to make difference. Their effort will certainly prove successful. I’m absolutely positive about this.”

“How long will the construction take?”

“The construction will require 600 million hryvnias. Almost half of this sum has already been raised. A certain share is supposed to come from the state budget. We hope that in two years the Center will come into operation.”

Interviewed by Mykola YURCHYSHYN
Silski visti No. 26 (18009), March 6, 2007