PRESS RELEASE
Charles University
Ovocný trh 5, Prague 1, 116 36
http://www.cuni.cz
Czech Perinatology Helps in Cambodia
Charles University, together with the Czech Medical Association of J. E. Purkyně, has taken patronage over the international project “Czech Perinatal Hands to Cambodia,”which focuses primarily on improving the knowledge and skills of Cambodian specialists and implementing Evidence-Based Medicine recommendations for life-threatening conditions affecting mothers and children in Southeast Asia.
As part of the project, a highly successful 12-day mission took place in Phnom Penh in January this year. Sixteen experts in perinatology, neonatology and intensive care medicine, together with specialists from the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague, delivered nearly 50 lectures and 10 workshops.
However, the cooperation certainly did not end there. Following this mission, 21 specialists from the National Pediatric Hospital in Phnom Penh visited the Czech Republic. Cambodian doctors and midwives assisted in the management of the country’s largest National Pediatric Hospital and underwent a week of intensive training under the guidance of specialists from Prague, the Central Bohemian Region, Pardubice and Pilsen.
Assistance in Cambodia is particularly important because obstetric and maternal and child healthcare in Kampong Chhnang Province remains at a low level.. The distribution of maternity centres and the way they operate is broadly comparable to the situation in the Czech Republic before the Second World War. There is a lack of medical outpatient services as well as preventive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. In the provinces, births take place in locations where midwives are often assisted only by women without the necessary medical qualifications, while surgical operating theatres are entirely absent. This situation results in a high number of deaths among women and their children.
The international development project of the Czech Development Agency, implemented by the Vita et Futura Foundation under the title “Czech Perinatal Hands Fly to Cambodia,” fully reflects WHO recommendations aimed at reducing maternal mortality during pregnancy and childbirth, deaths of children related to pregnancy and childbirth, and mortality among children under five years of age.
On 30 March, during the visit of specialists from the National Pediatric Hospital in Phnom Penh, a press conference was held at the JEP Czech Medical Association Doctors’ Club (Sokolská 31, Prague 2), attended bythe project’s patron, Jitka Čvančarová..
Implementation Team – “Czech Perinatal Hands Fly to Cambodia”
Prof. MUDr. Antonín Pařízek, CSc. (Lead Physician for Perinatology within the project)
Member of the Committee of the Czech Gynecological and Obstetrical Society of the Czech Medical Association of J. E. Purkyně
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the VITA et FUTURA Foundation
Prof. MUDr. Richard Plavka, CSc. (Lead Physician for Neonatology within the project)
Head of the Department of Neonatology, General University Hospital in Prague
Doc. MUDr. Jan Bláha, Ph.D. (Lead Physician for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine within the project)
Member of the Committee of the Czech Society of Anaesthesiology, Resuscitation and Intensive Care Medicine
Mgr. Alžběta Němcová (Lead Midwife within the project)
Czech Midwives Association
Doc. Ing. Petr Kudrna, Ph.D. (Lead Biomedical Engineering Specialist within the project)
Under the patronage of:
Charles University
Prof. MUDr. Milena Králíčková, Ph.D.
Rector of Charles University
Czech Medical Association of J. E. Purkyně
Prof. MUDr. Štěpán Svačina, CSc. MBA
President of the Czech Medical Association of J. E. Purkyně
Media Contact:
Charles University
Mgr. Václav Hájek
Press Officer, Charles University
External Relations Department
Charles University
tel: +420 721 285 565
e-mail: pr@cuni.cz
Vita et Futura Foundation
Eva Čejková
Coordinator, Vita et Futura Foundation
tel: +420 603 885 298
e-mail: cejkova@vitaetfutura.cz