Inhalations save lives. 5

Right next to us, there is another world. A world in which there is a large risk that one's life will end before one grows up. A world in which feeling all right is not a normal thing but a luxury, for which one must pay a large sum of money every month. It is a world of daily constant work, and whether you will wake up in the morning or stop breathing overnight depends on doing this work. It is a world of a rigid daily schedule, any deviation from which can result in a premature death. It is a world of people who have cystic fibrosis. And they cannot survive without our help.

Cystic fibrosis is a genetic illness, which results in all secretions in the body having an increased tenacity. For example, the thicker mucus cannot be coughed up normally and plugs up the lungs, leading to the development of chronic infections. To breathe more freely, every patient with cystic fibrosis has to do from two to fifteen nebulizer treatments daily; the number depends on the person's medical condition. One good-quality nebulizer costs 4,200 hryvnias (about $150). And the cost of vitamins and medications, which must be taken every day during one's entire life, runs over 20,000 hryvnias (about $710) every month. How many Ukrainian families can afford that?! Out of desperation, people buy cheap nebulizers, but they break down very quickly because they can't hold up to such heavy use.

Our goal is to provide good quality nebulizers to all patients with cystic fibrosis because the effectiveness of their daily treatments depends on having a good quality nebulizer. We want these people not to have to choose whether to buy the necessary medical equipment or the medications because they cannot afford to pay for both.

In Ukraine, only 20% of the people with cystic fibrosis live to be 18. The other 80% die in childhood, most of them in the intensive care units from respiratory failure or from other illnesses caused by cystic fibrosis (diabetes, liver cirrhosis, multi-organ failure). Most of these patients simply don't have enough money for good quality equipment and medications, and they don't have enough information about the correct treatment regimen. If they had these, their life with cystic fibrosis could be significantly longer, more active, and more fulfilling.

Let us, together, support these families and help every child live to adulthood.