20.06.2025

AYALA Charity Foundation, with support from Tengizchevroil, is launching a new stage of «Breathe In Life» project in Atyrau Region. This fall, the first Neonatal Surgery Department will start working at the Regional Perinatal Center.

The project aims to reduce infant mortality and improve quality of neonatal care in the region. The new department will be equipped with modern medical equipment: resuscitation table, anesthesia-respiratory machine, and specialized newborn-safe X-ray system. They enable neonatal surgeons to provide emergency surgical care to 35 infants annually within the first critical hours after birth.

Breath In Life project has been implemented since 2010 and helped significantly reduce infant mortality in Kazakhstan. We are happy that with the support from Tengizchevroil, we can now open a unique surgical department in Atyrau that will give dozens of children a chance for life and health every year,» Aidan Suleimenova, Founder and President of AYALA Foundation, said.

According to official WHO and UNICEF data, the neonatal mortality rate in Kazakhstan has declined from 23 per thousand in the early 2000s to 4 per thousand by the end of 2024 – the best indicator in Central Asia. However, we still face challenges, particularly for expectant mothers in the remote areas of the region.

Kazbek Yermagambetov, Director of the Atyrau Regional Perinatal Center, noted that the upcoming opening of the Neonatal Surgery Department this autumn is a long-awaited event. «Our center has qualified neonatal surgeons and resuscitators, but we currently cannot operate on newborns with severe congenital defects due to lacking medical equipment. Thanks to the project of AYALA Foundation and support from Tengizchevroil, this new department will receive all necessary resources so that we were able to save more lives – without losing critical time transporting infants to other cities,» Kazbek Aizharykovich emphasized.

Currently, neonatologists at the Atyrau Regional Perinatal Center save lives of infants who were previously deemed non-viable within the first critical minutes and hours after birth. Survival rates for preterm infants weighing under 1,000 grams have increased significantly — by 57%. However, over 70% of future patients of the Neonatal Surgery Department are non-transportable and cannot be transferred via air ambulance to other medical centers for treatment

“The equipment of the Neonatal Surgery Department will enable our doctors to provide highly specialized medical care to newborns at high risk of neonatal pathologies, including those from complicated deliveries at 22-32 weeks gestation, with intrauterine developmental abnormalities, and other conditions requiring surgical intervention within the first critical hours and days after birth,» Kazbek Ermagambetov shared.

Breathe In Life project aligns with the priority areas of the Kazakhstan State Healthcare Development Program. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev specifically emphasized the necessity of continuing the nationwide programs to reduce infant mortality rates at his meeting with the Minister of Healthcare in 2024.

Tengizchevroil has become a partner of the Project under its Social Investment Program. This Program prioritizes enhancing medical infrastructure and improving public health outcomes in Atyrau Region.

This is the second pediatric healthcare project that AYALA Charity Foundation is implementing in partnership with TCO in Atyrau Region during 2025. In the nearest time weeks, with the company’s support, a specialized life-support system for infants born with critical respiratory complications: persistent pulmonary hypertension, congenital pneumonia, and other conditions previously considered incompatible with life will start working at the Regional Perinatal Center ICU. These two projects will allow saving dozens of newborns’ lives annually from across the region.