charity
CHARITY OF THE YEAR
Breathe Life Project
Republican Project of the AYALA Foundation is aimed at equipping the children's intensive care units of hospitals in Kazakhstan with essential equipment. It was started in 2007, and, within 15 years, it has covered 36 cities and towns and 67 medical institutions.
Due to the funds raised, the dozens of thousands of children’s lives were saved in Kazakhstan, and hundreds of Kazakhstani doctors took advanced training courses.
More details about the project below.
Breathe Life Project
The aim of the AYALA Charitable Foundation is to reduce child and infant mortality and disability in Kazakhstan. Since 2007, with the support of hundreds of sponsors and the help of tens of thousands of Kazakhstanis, we have saved the lives of more than 130,000 children here in Kazakhstan. And we have done this through systemic changes in healthcare.
"Breathe new life" is the name of the republican project of the AYALA Foundation to equip children's hospitals in Kazakhstan with vital equipment. According to Kazakhstani doctors, currently more than 49% of babies born prematurely suffer from retinopathy – an eye disease that leads to irreversible loss of vision in premature newborns. In order to save them from total blindness it is necessary to carry out complex diagnostics as early as possible.
The danger of retinopathy lies in the fact that there are no external signs of the disease. Only specialized and trained ophthalmologist with the help of special equipment – retinal camera and frontal ophthalmoscope - can see early manifestations of this disease and refer for treatment.
The urgency in Kazakhstan of the problem of growing disability of children due to retinopathy of prematurity increases every year. This is shown by the figures of the Committee on Statistics of Kazakhstan for 9 months of 2022, where the incidence of retinopathy is 49%, which is comparable to the incidence in the poorest countries in Africa.
Premature babies should be examined at 3-4 weeks of life. This is very important, because in the treatment of retinopathy, missed time can lead to complete loss of vision.
In order to provide highly specialized medical care and preserve children's vision, the following equipment should be installed in Akmola Regional Perinatal Center (Kokshetau city):
We support various charities in Kazakhstan. If you wish to raise finds for your favourite charity listed on this page please contact them directly in order to secure the race entry. If your favourite charity is not on our list please put them in touch with us.
We are also determined to spread the love for running among Kazakhstanis, particularly in rural areas. We are raising funds for our One Steppe Beyond Project, which will enable us to organise short distance races across Kazakhstan. Please support the project and make your donation.