08.06.2022

A transport incubator and three phototherapy lamps appeared in the Mangystau Oblast Perinatal Centre. The equipment was donated by AYALA Charity Foundation with the sponsorship of ExxonMobil as part of its large-scale Let’s Breathe Life project. This equipment will help neonatologists save the lives of newborn children and will make a significant contribution to reducing infant mortality in the region.

“The issue of infant mortality is still topical in our oblast . Therefore, we are always happy to receive help to equip pediatric intensive care units with advanced medical equipment. We thank the AYALA Foundation for the gift to our Centre in the form of 4 units of modern resuscitation equipment. These units will be used by our doctors in saving, recovery and treatment of newborns. We express our sincere gratitude to ExxonMobil for such important and necessary support of our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and for supporting the health of children!” — noted at the oblast Perinatal Centre of Aktau.

This medical institution is designed for 230 beds and is the only one providing 3rd level medical care to pregnant women and newborns in entire Mangystau oblast. More than 94% of very premature babies weighing from 500 to 1500 grams are born in this medical Centre. Newborns with congenital malformations of the cardiovascular, respiratory systems and other vital body systems are also sent there to receive comprehensive medical support and treatment.

Akmaral Sabirova, ExxonMobil Public Relations Advisor noted: “Healthcare is one of the priority areas for our company’s social projects. By improving the quality of medical services by providing intensive care units with the most modern equipment, we help preserve the health and genetic potential of future generations of our country. ExxonMobil plans to continue to collaborate with AYALA Charity Foundation and the oblast health department to provide assistance to medical Centres in the oblast . We hope that the company’s investments in healthcare will have a tangible positive effect on the health and well-being of the population of the Mangystau oblast .”

AYALA Charity Foundation has been working to reduce infant mortality and disability for 15 years in Kazakhstan. During this time, we donated more than 1,100 units of resuscitation equipment to 67 perinatal centres and research centres and children’s hospitals. This includes modern resuscitation equipment for the large-scale republican Let’s Breathe Life project.

“The main approach in the work of our Foundation is effective charity. Funds from sponsors and donations from Kazakhstanis are used not for one-time assistance, but for projects that last for years. The result is hundreds of thousands of children’s lives saved in Kazakhstan, and not outside our country. In 2021 alone, as part of the Let’s Breathe Life project, the Foundation installed 80 units of the latest medical equipment in 12 perinatal Centres in Kazakhstan. The work is ongoing this year. Our objective is to keep as many children as possible functionally healthy. So that they can develop quietly, go to a regular kindergarten, school, and find a profession in the future. We are pleased to have found a like-minded person in this approach in ExxonMobil. The equipment installed in the oblast Perinatal Centre of Aktau, in the hands of caring professional doctors, will help save the lives and intelligence of hundreds of newborn children in the Mangystau oblast in the next 5 years,” commented Aidan Suleimenova, President of AYALA Charity Foundation.

AYALA Charity Foundation is in constant working contact with the Department of Maternal and Child Protection of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The RoK Ministry of Healthcare notes that cooperation with AYALA Foundation is useful, since the issue of insufficient equipping of perinatal Centres with diagnostic and surgical equipment still remains relevant. This problem affects the implementation of high-quality screening and untimely treatment of premature infants. The units that the Foundation supplies to oblast perinatal Centres help the state significantly reduce disability among premature babies.

At the end of May, AYALA Foundation signed the third Memorandum of Cooperation with the RoK Ministry of Healthcare. It is aimed at coordination of the efforts to reduce the incidence of retinopathy in premature newborns. The memorandum includes cooperation in developing a number of issues, including the possibility of including in the 2023 budget funds for the purchase of medicines for intravitreal administration of angiogenesis inhibitors. It also provides for studying the effective treatment of neonatal retinopathy and providing other assistance to achieve its goals.