Donation to help reduce burn-related deaths among children

The Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH), which is accessed by people across a number of local communities in Joburg and surrounds, was recently the recipient of a R400 000 donation.

The donation forms part of a joint corporate social investment drive by MMI Holdings and Metropolitan Health, who have invested in local community projects to help address health issues affecting South Africans.

On March 19, Metropolitan Health presented the cheque to the non-profit organisation Surgeons for Little Lives.

The NPO was instituted by the Department of Paediatric Surgery at the University of the Witwatersrand, which has since earmarked the donation to be used to reduce sepsis-related deaths among burn victims admitted to the Paediatric Burns Unit at CHBAH.

Further to this, Surgeons for Little Lives aims to reduce infection-related mortality to below six per cent, which is more closely aligned to the global standard of between three per cent and five per cent. Chief Commercial Officer for Metropolitan Health Dr Solly Motuba said in 2018, the burns unit at the hospital admitted 588 patients, which was an increase of just over 28 per cent – up from 459 in 2017.

“While the number of patients increased significantly, the capacity of the unit remained unchanged with 19 beds housed in three wards and a further seven isolation beds in the Paediatric Burns Intensive Care Unit,” said Motuba.

“Mortality among burn victims is caused largely by hospital-acquired infection. The responsible organisms are often resistant to common antibiotics, making it even more difficult to combat the problem.

“Factors that lead to the infections include the flow of patients and staff within the unit; a lack of isolation cubicles for an infected patient and the lack of a decontamination cubicle at the entrance and exit to the intensive care unit.”

Motuba highlighted that interventions of this nature are important as they help reduce some of the pressure on the country’s overburdened public healthcare systems.

“Most importantly, this initiative presents an important opportunity to give children who suffer burn-related trauma access to enhanced medical care and a better chance at survival,” he said.