23.01.2020

A complex for therapeutic hypothermia — TecoTerm Neo and electroencephalography units — was donated today by the AYALA Charity Foundation to the Oblast Perinatal Centre No. 3 in Turkestan. The equipment was purchased with the sponsorship of Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan JSC.

To date, therapeutic hypothermia is considered as the main world-recognized physical (non-drug) method of protecting the brain of newborns during hypoxic-ischemic injuries.

This is also confirmed by data received by AYALA Foundation from the capital’s National Research Centre for Motherhood and Childhood. From November 2017 to June 2019, 72 newborns diagnosed with moderate to severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy were treated in the intensive care unit using the TecoTerm Neo unit there. Of these children, more than half were born premature with a body weight from 1800 grams.

As reported by this Centre, the effectiveness of therapeutic hypothermia was determined by clinical, laboratory and instrumental data, as well as by the results of observation of children. In 95% of cases, children with complete clinical recovery in satisfactory condition were discharged home. Subsequent observation by doctors showed that all these children became healthy and without any neurological disorders.

“Implementation of projects to reduce infant mortality and disability is a key priority of our Foundation. For 12 years, we have provided assistance to dozens of public children’s medical institutions throughout Kazakhstan Owing to the ‘Let’s Breathe Life’, ‘Breathe, Baby’, ‘I Want to Live Too’ projects tens of thousands of children’s lives have been saved in Kazakhstan. Since 2017, our Foundation has been actively involved in the search for sponsors to equip perinatal Centres with hypothermia equipment. For 3 years, with the support of the sponsors, we installed 3 such units at the National Research Centre for Maternity and Childhood in Nur-Sultan, at the Centre for Perinatology and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery in Almaty. Today we are very pleased to transfer the fourth set of equipment to the Oblast Perinatal Centre No. 3 of Turkestan. I am sure that this will help improve infant survival and fertility rates in this area,” said Aidan Suleimenova, president of the AYALA Charity Foundation.