To Ecuador with love

Scottish charity KidsOR announces seven-figure funding for eight new children’s operating facilities in Ecuador

Nicola Wood, co-founder of children’s charity KidsOR, has announced a transformational funding package to build eight new specialist children’s operating facilities in Ecuador as she spoke at the country’s Paediatric Surgery Society in the capital, Quito.

Speaking alongside members of The Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery today, Nicola Wood announced KidsOR’s plans to work with two key hospitals in the region to positively impact the lives of up to 5,000 children per year by increasing access to safe surgery.

The first two facilities will be based in the Hospital des los Valles in Quito and will support the hospital’s new paediatric surgery training programme, allowing more children from the wider region to access surgery.

The hospital works in partnership with the Institute of Social Security of the Government of Ecuador to provide safe surgery for children from the remote high Andes and the Amazon Rainforest, as well as the large urban population surrounding Quito.

The additional six new operating facilities will be based in the Hospital del Nino Dr. Francisco De lcaza Bustamante in the city of Guayaquil. The children’s hospital, which is located in Ecuador’s largest city, will benefit from a refurbishment of its existing operating suite, allowing local surgeons to maximise the number of children receiving care and in the safest possible conditions.

Nicola Wood, Co-Founder of KidsOR comments: “Sadly, there are still almost 2 billion children around the world who lack access to safe surgery.  The negative impact of this is felt not only by the child, but by their family, their community and their country.

“At KidsOR we strongly believe that no child should die or live their life in agonising pain or with a disability because of a surgically treatable condition and we’re committed to making a tangible difference to the lives of thousands of children.

“It’s an absolute honour to be in Ecuador, and to work with such incredibly inspiring hospitals and medical staff, tirelessly working to provide greater access to safe surgery.

“Over the last year we have been incredibly impressed by the local surgical teams and their ability to deliver high-quality care, but it was clear that they need better tools in order to fulfil their potential.  Our investment will provide specialist facilities and equipment which we know will make a huge difference to the quality of life of thousands of children, allowing them to live their lives to the full.”

Dr Michele Ugazzi, Head of Paediatric Surgery, Hospital Des Los Valles in Quito said: “We are delighted to have the support of KidsOR here in Ecuador.

“As we start a new paediatric surgery training programme, we will be able to equip the next generation of surgeons with the best skills, taught in the best conditions, to care for our nation’s children for years to come.”

Dr Luis Zea, former Paediatric Surgeon at Hospital del Nino Dr Fransisco de Icaza Bustamante in Guayaquil and member of the ‘Friends of Hospital del Niño’ group said: “On behalf of the hospital and the children who are cared for here, we are very grateful to be receiving this incredible donation of six full operating rooms and associated support. This will transform the care the hospital can give to local children and it will have the most incredible impact.”

Work will start on the development of the operating facilities in 2019 and is due to be completed by 2020.

A game-changer in the third sector, KidsOR provides dedicated, specialist facilities and equipment for children’s surgery. The UK charity, funded by Scottish philanthropists Garreth and Nicola Wood, works with local surgeons and their teams to design and build operating facilities to transform the care available to children in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).

KidsOR currently has surgical facilities in development stages in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, The Gambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia, Mozambique, Nepal, and South East Asia.