There is a high incidence of premature births in the Philippines especially among the indigent population. According to a 2012 report of the UNICEF, the Philippines ranks 8th among the top 10 countries in the world with the highest premature birth rate!
The mortality and morbidity of premature infants are high due to inherent under-development of their organs (including the lungs) associated with prematurity, the lack of necessary equipment, such as ventilators and lack of appropriate care to address their medical needs in the newborn intensive care unit (NICU). Due to under-development of their lungs, about 25% of premature infants will need a ventilator immediately after birth to survive. However, in a recent survey of 10 NICUs in the Philippines, only an average of 5 ventilators are available in each NICU and an average of 5 more ventilators are needed to care for the infants born or transferred to their units. In the absence of a ventilator, manual ventilation of the infant is the only recourse. A caregiver, usually a family member or hospital staff provides continuous, manual hang bagging of the infant by the use of an inflatable bag. This is a dangerous and relatively ineffective method of ventilation since the volume and pressure that are required to ventilate the infant’s lungs are not adequate nor uniformly delivered leading to complications and event death of the infant.
The high cost of a ventilator is a major deterrent in providing the NICU with the adequate number of ventilators they need. In a recent inquiry from the procurement office of a major government hospital, the cost of a new commercial ventilator retails at a price ranging from PHP 1.2 to 3.4 million.
