Vodafone Foundation completed the selection of those eight wards and neonatal intensive care units of level 1 and 2 which will be equipped with medical equipment and related equipment worth 2.3 million leiin the fourth stage of the program Life Fund for Newborns. So far, the Vodafone Foundation has allocated over this project 9 million lei for the development of the medical infrastructure of 27 neonatology departments in hospitals throughout the country.
“The fourth stage of the Newborn Life Fund program continues the mission of guaranteeing equal access to care and treatment for newborns in Romania. In this round, we received a significant number of applications, with 42 participating hospitals, which confirms the continued need for investment in the equipment of neonatology wards. That is why we are expanding the program and including this year eight more medical units, in addition to the 19 already equipped in the previous phases. We estimate that more than 7,500 newborns will benefit from better care through the endowments at this stage“, he declared Angela Galeța, director of the Vodafone Romania Foundation.
The wards and compartments of neonatology and neonatal intensive care that will be equipped in the fourth stage are from the following medical units: Pitești Emergency County Hospital, Reșița County Emergency Hospital, Carei Municipal Hospital, Turda Municipal Hospital, Buzău County Emergency Hospital, Onești Municipal Hospital, Focșani Emergency County Hospital and Odorheiu Secuiesc Municipal Hospital.
More than 40 pieces of equipment and pieces of medical furniture will be purchased for the eight wards. Among the equipment most requested by applicants are ventilators, radiant tables (with or without resuscitation mode), vital signs and EEG monitors, injectors, T-piece resuscitators, and bilirubinometers.
The mission of the Life Fund for Newborns program is to ensure access to quality medical services for as many children as possible, regardless of where they are born. In the first three stages of the program, carried out between 2021-2025, 19 wards of neonatology and neonatal intensive care of level 1 and 2 from Slatina, Craiova, Mediaș, Caransebeș, Târgu Mureș and Botoșani, Câmpulung Muscel, Luduș, Moldova Nouă, Cluj, Râmnicu-Vâlcea, Piatra Neamț, Slobozia, Sebeș, Marghita, were included. Miercurea-Ciuc, Buftea and Bucharest. Separately from this endowment component, in 2023, the Vodafone Foundation financed the installation of telemedicine solutions in 17 level 3 neonatal intensive care units in the country, which were incorporated into the national network. Following this stage of the project, all 25 neonatal intensive care units in Romania are connected to the national telemedicine network.
The Vodafone Foundation will continue to invest in neonatology in the years to come, because every project completed means a chance at life for the smallest and most vulnerable among us. Those who want to support this cause can join by SMS to 8845 with the text RITM (monthly donation of 2 euros), online donation, on the Vodafone Foundation website, directing 3.5% of the 2025 income tax or by
the involvement of a company. Together we can keep Romania alive!
BackgroundVodafone started investing in neonatology 12 years ago, when in Romania the infant mortality rate wastile was almost 10‰. Today, thanks to the efforts of other organizations, the infant mortality rate has decreased to 6.4* per 1,000 live births (*source). These figures place us at an infant mortality rate almost double the European average. One of the causes is that only 9% of neonatology wards and compartments in our country have all the necessary equipment to care for premature newborns or those with serious health problems.
About the Vodafone Romania Foundation
For 28 years, we have been pooling our resources and those of our partners to build inclusive and sustainable projects together. We call on technology and social innovation and invest in the development of disadvantaged communities in Romania. We modernize neonatal intensive care units and support digital education programs that prepare children and young people for the jobs of the future and help the elderly not feel left out in an increasingly digitized world. We get involved in actions to combat domestic violence and the phenomenon of bullying. Since April 2016, together with other Vodafone foundations around the world, we have improved the lives of over 305 million people.
We are a Romanian non-governmental organization established in 1998, with charitable status, distinct and independent from the commercial operations of Vodafone Romania. More details about our programs can be found at www.fundatia-vodafone.ro, http://jurnaldebine.fundatia-vodafone.ro/ and www.facebook.com/fundatiavodafone
