How we work
Long-time experience in Sub-Saharan Africa
For more than 10 years, the founders of NEO FOR NAMIBIA - Helping Babies Survive, Prof. Thomas M. Berger, a Swiss pediatrician, neonatologist and pediatric intensivist and his wife Sabine Berger, a pediatric registered nurse, have visited several sub-Saharan African countries (Ivory Coast, the Gambia, Namibia) to assess neonatal and pediatric care at various hospitals in these countries.
Simple interventions will save lives
During these visits, they have observed recurrent themes: lack of equipment related to both high acquisition costs and lack of proper maintenance, unreliable supply chains for spare parts and consumables, and shortage of qualified health care professionals.
Starting their project in Namibia in 2015, they have now convincigly shown that simple interventions can have a huge impact on neonatal mortality. A lot remains to be done, and the time to act is now!
Official support of the project
The activities of NEO FOR NAMIBIA - Helping Babies Survive are officially approved by the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MHSS).
Main activities
NEO FOR NAMIBIA - Helping Babies Survive focuses on the following aspects of the care of newborn infants:
- Provide essential equipment to improve neonatal care (e.g., warming beds, phototherapy units, oxygen saturation monitors, devices for respiratory support, point of care testing (POCT) devices to measure bilirubin and C-reactive protein levels, consumables appropriate for the use in newborn infants, etc.)
- Regular teaching of both physician and nursing staff in basic neonatal care, such as thermoregulation, Kangaroo Mother Care, neonatal resuscitation, appropriate use of antibiotics, fluid and nutrition management, respiratory care
- Support of local champions (physicians and nurses who will train and supervise their peers)
- Measuring impact by collecting and analyzing relevant statistical data