Kenyan-Made Device Helps Save Premature Babies Born Amid Ukraine War
Russia's war on Ukraine
has seen scores of hospitals and clinics bombed and frequent power cuts that
can turn off lifesaving machines. Medical aid groups are using a
Kenyan-manufactured breathing device for premature babies that works without
electricity, helping save vulnerable newborns in countries affected by
conflict.
Staff at the Jaramogi
Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kisumu, Kenya, say this device
— a bubble continuous positive airway pressure system, or bCPAP — brings some
relief to those in respiratory distress.
Daisy Okech, a
pediatric nurse at the hospital, said the device "helped us a great lot
because before we had the machine there were babies who needed the CPAP, but we
were not able to initiate. We were just using normal oxygen, but currently we
have seen that there are babies who improve very well when we initiate
CPAP."
The device continuously
delivers pressurized oxygen, making it easier for babies in respiratory
distress to breathe. Workers say water bubbles in a jar signify that the user
is breathing right.
Pressured oxygen source
Revital health care, a
manufacturer in Kenya's Kilifi County, and the U.S.-based Vayu Global Health
Foundation took on mass production of the devices this year. Revital’s
technical director, Krupali Shah, said the bubble CPAP just needs a pressured
source of oxygen, such as a cylinder, to function.
"Once you have
continuous 100% oxygen flowing in the blender, which is where the magic of the
entire device is and is, literally, where the magic happens, it's able to pull
ambient air from the outside as well," Shah said. "You can adjust the
oxygen concentration between 30-100 before delivery to the baby. The blended
air can be filtered, humidified, breathed in by the patient and breathed out.
There is also a pressure generator jar which controls the pressure and keeps
the baby's lungs open."
In August, the World
Health Organization acknowledged that at least 25 facilities across Ukraine, 17
of which are perinatal centers, were using the bubble CPAPs provided by donors.
Officials say the
device provides a non-invasive way of supporting newborns who are struggling to
breathe. Doctors say oxygen blenders prevent lung and brain damage while giving
babies pure oxygen.
Its inventor, American
doctor Thomas Burke, told VOA that investing in the health of vulnerable
newborns is key to controlling infant mortality.
"People actually have
to make budget commitments, and it means that health systems have to prioritize
babies," Burke said. "I found in my 2 1/2 decades of work on maternal
health that there is sometimes a lot of talk around saving mothers' lives, but
at the end of the day people aren't willing to put finance behind saving
mothers’ lives.”
The bCPAP devices are
available for about US $400 in Kenya.
The system is being
used in at least 20 countries in Africa, as well as Belgium and the United
States.
Nearly 1 million
infants die annually from respiratory problems in low- and middle-income
countries, according to the World Health Organization. Advocates say more of
the lifesaving machines are needed around the world.
VOA
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