Brief Background and Scope of the Initiative
The need for the centre
Respiratory diseases account for the largest cause of illnesses and mortality during childhood. They represent in terms of severity the equivalent of cardiovascular diseases in adults.
In Cyprus, Asthma represents the most chronic disease in children and is acquiring characteristics of an epidemic. Frequency of Asthma was recently found to affect 8-11% of the total number of school age children in the district of Nicosia and 6% in the district of Limassol. In addition, it appears that 1 out of every 5 pre-school age children suffer at least one or more episodes of bronchospasm and wheezing before the age of 6 years.
Other respiratory infections like pneumonia, bronchitis and bronchioitis and a wide list of other rarer and more severe lung diseases affecting children such as Cystic Fibrosis, Bronchiectasis, Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia are potentially life threatening for children and present an additional strain to the public and private health services.
In 2007 of the admissions of newborn babies to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Makarios III Hospital, 55% related to severe respiratory difficulties and 28% of the admissions on the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit of the Hospital were for severe lung diseases or complications arising out of lung conditions.
The aims and benefits of the Centre
The Breathing Life Lung Centre is located within the Makarios III hospital, in Nicosia, which is the referral Paediatric Centre for the whole of Cyprus.
It is a state-of-the-art respiratory and treatment centre for children, comprising a 250 sq. m. layout at the Makarios III Hospital. It is the only centre of its kind in Cyprus and the whole of the Mediterranean Region.
It principally helps new born babies and young children by offering advanced diagnostic techniques in the treatment of life threatening respiratory illnesses and rare genetic defects of the respiratory system. It also manages the treatment of thousands of children with severe respiratory illness and disease each year.
Most of all the new centre gives hope and support to the many vulnerable children and families in their time of need.