About 11.9% of newborns in Cyprus are born prematurely, making Cyprus one of the first places in Europe in terms of prematurity, says the OKYPY in its announcement on the World Day of Prematurity, highlighting the work carried out in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units ( MENN) of Makarios Hospital and Limassol General Hospital.
In its announcement, the OKYpY states that “recognizing its role as a pillar in the health sector and as the largest provider of medical services in Cyprus”, the OKypY “stands firmly by the side of mothers, children and health professionals, providing continuous and qualitative upgrading to Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) that it has”.
With the slogan of the World Prematurity Day being “The parent's embrace: A powerful treatment”, OKYpY implements various actions aimed at raising awareness among citizens about the challenges of premature birth and at the same time highlights the work carried out by the ICUs of Makarios Hospital and Limassol General Hospital.
The goal of the staff of the two units, according to the announcement, is to reduce mother-newborn separation, to reduce the occurrence of complications during hospitalization, to reduce morbidity and mortality, to reduce the duration of hospitalization, to improve the neurological outcome, reduction of long-term damage and neurodevelopmental disability and reduction of hospitalization for chronic morbidity.
The NICU of Makarios Hospital is the only level III neonatal intensive care center in Cyprus, and is a reference center for all serious cases with problems related to prematurity. The NICU accepts referrals of premature and full-term newborns from 22/23 weeks of gestation up to the 14th day of life, while also dealing with pediatric surgical, pediatric cardiology, pediatric neurological, metabolic, genetic and other problems that occur during the neonatal period.
Equally noteworthy is the work of the ICU of the Limassol General Hospital, says the OKYpY, which covers the needs of the Limassol and Paphos provinces in specialized services for dealing with term or premature newborns, services that are not provided by any other hospital in the area.
“The high level of health services provided in the two MENNs is also reflected in numbers with the two units registering significant successes at an international level”, reports the Organization, noting that, according to official data from the Health Monitoring Unit of the Ministry of Health , Cyprus ranks 4th among European countries, with the lowest newborn mortality rate at 1.5 deaths per 1000 births. continuous investments in building facilities, medical and technological equipment and in strengthening the interdisciplinary staff of the Units with the aim of ensuring a healthy life for all children”, concludes the announcement.
More information on Neonatal Intensive Care Units at the following link https://shso.org.cy/
