Almost half of the world’s child deaths under five take place in Africa where the vast majority do not have medical insurance and almost 50% of sub-Saharan Africa’s total health expenditure is financed by out-of-pocket payments from its largely impoverished population.

In South Africa, 5.7% of all live births or one in every 17 newborns, resulted in death in 2010. Statistics reveal that ten children under the age of 15 die in South Africa every day as a result of traumatic injury or violence. In the 1 to 4-year-old age group, trauma-related injuries account for 25% of deaths and in the 5 to 19 year-old-group, a shocking 60%.

“The management of sick children requires purpose-designed facilities, not just at ward level, but throughout the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in specialised departments where patients can be smaller than 1000 grams and a third are less
than a year old,” says Louise Driver, CEO of the Children’s Hospital Trust.

“Treating children is a very specialised task which is why Sea Harvest has chosen to help improve specialised medical service delivery to our country’s children by devising a 4-month campaign that accumulates 10c donations from each of our crumbed products sold to enable us to donate R500 000 to the only hospital in Southern Saharan Africa dedicated to children,” says Felix Ratheb, sales and marketing director of Sea Harvest, leading black-empowered South African commercial fishing company that catches local, wild, sustainably caught hake. “In an environment where life-threatening emergencies are a daily occurrence, having the right equipment on-hand when you need it is critical.”

“As a fundraiser for the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and Paediatric Healthcare in the Western Cape, the Children’s Hospital Trust is delighted that Sea Harvest is staging their third ‘Kids for Kids’ fundraising promotion to benefit the Children’s Hospital Trust that’s committed to maintaining the Hospital’s reputable status as a state-of-the-art child health institution through funding the Hospital’s upgrades, equipment needs, research, training and capital works projects that impact on the healthcare of children in Africa and globally,” shares Driver.

The funds raised will go towards building and equipping a new, modern Radiology Complex to house the Hospital’s existing Radiology and Nuclear Medicine departments. Both departments play crucial roles in assessing the type of illness or trauma in little patients treated at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, the largest paediatric hospital in Africa that performs around 750 complex operations each month and provides world-class healthcare and treatment to seriously ill children and high level training to medical professionals both locally and internationally.

“The Radiology Department which has provided over 32 000 patients with radiographic services provides a service to all departments, clinics and wards in the Hospital 24 hours a day and is in desperate need of a more spacious, dedicated facility,” says Louise. “CT and MRI scans, general X-rays, lodox scans for full body X-rays and ultrasounds using radiation are just a few of the services.”

The cost of this project is approximately R40-million, of which the Western Cape Government: Health will contribute 50% and the Children’s Hospital Trust is fundraising for the remaining R20-million.

Healthcare is a right that is enshrined in our constitution, one which bestows upon every child the right to basic healthcare services. Simple as this may sound, it is an exceptionally daunting task.

Paralympic swimmer and great white shark attack survivor, Achmat Hassiem was among the guests at yesterday’s event announcing the R500 000 donation. The children were entertained by the presenters of the HecticNine9 tv show, a Marimba band and Sea Harvest’s Mascots Sea Paw and Splash.

For more information visit www.seaharvest.co.za or www.childrenshospitaltrust.org.za. Alternatively, phone 021 686 7860.