B92 Fund baby incubator campaign begins

B92 Fund has launched a big humanitarian campaign entitled “Battle for the Babies“. The campaign’s aim is to raise funds for the purchase of 100 new baby incubators for the health institutions across Serbia. B92 Fund baby incubator campaign begins The campaign was launched in order to provide better care of the youngest and most vulnerable fellow citizens because most incubators in Serbia are more than 40 years old. 35 incubators at the Belgrade Institute for Neonatology are between 35 and 40 years old and older than the parents of the babies who need them. B92 Fund donated the first incubator to the institute in the beginning of the campaign. The warranty for the several-decade-old incubators expired a long time ago, spare parts are almost impossible to provide, while servicing becomes an impossible mission. The death rate of babies weighing up to 999 grams is 60 percent in our country, while in the EU and the U.S., it is around 15 percent. B92 Fund Director Veran Matic points out that a basic human right, the right to life, is jeopardized under these circumstances. “We have realized that it is unacceptable to have incubators that are more than 30 years old in Serbia now. We have calculated that 100 new ones would be a minimum for a dignified work of the health institutions. An incubator represents a chance for every fifth newborn, because about eight percent of babies who are not prematurely born have health issues and they need to be in an incubator,” he pointed out. Dusan Stojanovic, Veran Matic and Niveska Bozinovic Prekajski (B92) B92 Fund’s aim is to motivate all those who can help to join the campaign. Citizens will vote and invite companies they believe can help save human lives to join the campaign. On the website www.bitkazabebe.rs the citizens will be able to vote for the companies and choose “companies heroes” that will help raise funds for 100 new baby incubators. The incubator donated to the Institute for Neonatology (B92) Funds for eight new incubators have so far been raised. "The very first donation that the Institute for Neonatology got directly, after the news about this was aired on TV B92, was from the Ministry of Health, and those are funds for the purchase of five incubators. AIGO BS Company from Belgrade has already donated one incubator to the Institute, while the Company Vlasinka would donate another two pieces. Apart from the mentioned eight incubators, B92 Fund has thus far raised a sum amounting to almost EUR 200.000, and ordered first twenty incubators, out of which 15 will go to the Institute for Neonatology, while five will be directed to the Novi Sad based Institute for health care of children and youth. After that, we will, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, place the rest sixty incubators all over Serbia, according to priorities“, stressed the B92 Fund director. Niveska Bozinovic Prekajski (B92) Institute for Neonatology Director Niveska Bozinovic Prekajski has stated that the “Battle for the Babies“ campaign represents a big step for neonatology in Serbia, because present working conditions of health institutions are lagging behind more than 20 years. “Incubator is a part of medical equipment necessary for the babies, as apart from giving them a chance to live, it should provide them with the best possible care, including favorable treatment result. It really means a lot to us that B92 Fund has recognized our needs and decided to help in this way, not only to our Institute, but also offering help to the youngest citizens of Serbia”, said Bozinovic Prekajski. (B92) Aside from old incubators, a big problem represents lack of well-equipped incubator rooms, diapers that are not imported in Serbia and lack of clothes. The Institute for Neonatology is the unique republic institute of the tertiary level, with 89 year long tradition, in which for the last 10 years, 11,852 prematurely born babies and endangered newborns were taken care of. The institute presently has 93 incubators, out of which four are out of order, while 35 incubators are more than 30 years old. (B92) B92 Fund has called on everybody to join the campaign and help raise funds for 100 new incubators. A single incubator costs between EUR 10,000 and 15,000. (B92)

B92 Fund baby incubator campaign begins

The campaign was launched in order to provide better care of the youngest and most vulnerable fellow citizens because most incubators in Serbia are more than 40 years old.

35 incubators at the Belgrade Institute for Neonatology are between 35 and 40 years old and older than the parents of the babies who need them. B92 Fund donated the first incubator to the institute in the beginning of the campaign.

The warranty for the several-decade-old incubators expired a long time ago, spare parts are almost impossible to provide, while servicing becomes an impossible mission. The death rate of babies weighing up to 999 grams is 60 percent in our country, while in the EU and the U.S., it is around 15 percent.

B92 Fund Director Veran Matić points out that a basic human right, the right to life, is jeopardized under these circumstances.

“We have realized that it is unacceptable to have incubators that are more than 30 years old in Serbia now. We have calculated that 100 new ones would be a minimum for a dignified work of the health institutions. An incubator represents a chance for every fifth newborn, because about eight percent of babies who are not prematurely born have health issues and they need to be in an incubator,” he pointed out. B92 Fund’s aim is to motivate all those who can help to join the campaign. Citizens will vote and invite companies they believe can help save human lives to join the campaign.

On the website www.bitkazabebe.rs the citizens will be able to vote for the companies and choose “companies heroes” that will help raise funds for 100 new baby incubators. Funds for eight new incubators have so far been raised.

"The very first donation that the Institute for Neonatology got directly, after the news about this was aired on TV B92, was from the Ministry of Health, and those are funds for the purchase of five incubators. AIGO BS Company from Belgrade has already donated one incubator to the Institute, while the Company Vlasinka would donate another two pieces. Apart from the mentioned eight incubators, B92 Fund has thus far raised a sum amounting to almost EUR 200.000, and ordered first twenty incubators, out of which 15 will go to the Institute for Neonatology, while five will be directed to the Novi Sad based Institute for health care of children and youth. After that, we will, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, place the rest sixty incubators all over Serbia, according to priorities“, stressed the B92 Fund director. Institute for Neonatology Director Niveska Božinović Prekajski has stated that the “Battle for the Babies“ campaign represents a big step for neonatology in Serbia, because present working conditions of health institutions are lagging behind more than 20 years.

“Incubator is a part of medical equipment necessary for the babies, as apart from giving them a chance to live, it should provide them with the best possible care, including favorable treatment result. It really means a lot to us that B92 Fund has recognized our needs and decided to help in this way, not only to our Institute, but also offering help to the youngest citizens of Serbia”, said Božinović Prekajski. Aside from old incubators, a big problem represents lack of well-equipped incubator rooms, diapers that are not imported in Serbia and lack of clothes.

The Institute for Neonatology is the unique republic institute of the tertiary level, with 89 year long tradition, in which for the last 10 years, 11,852 prematurely born babies and endangered newborns were taken care of. The institute presently has 93 incubators, out of which four are out of order, while 35 incubators are more than 30 years old. B92 Fund has called on everybody to join the campaign and help raise funds for 100 new incubators.

A single incubator costs between EUR 10,000 and 15,000.