On October 14, 2021, CMCF Vice President, Jolanta Martinoff was invited to take part in the 6th International Congress of the European Milk Bank Association.

CMCF wishes to express its sincere gratitude to Aleksandra Wesolowska, President of the Milk Bank Foundation of Poland and Associate Professor at the Laboratory of Human Milk and Lactation Research on Regional Milk Bank in Warsaw, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland for the invitation to participate and for her leadership in this area.

Below is an in depth interview of Assoc. Prof. Wesolowska which appeared in Miris Interviews.

On October 21, 2021, in Kiev, Ukraine, Jolanta Martinoff, CMCF Vice President, signed an updated Memorandum of Understanding with Viktor Liashko, Ukrainian Minister of Health, renewing both parties’ commitment to improving the quality of newborn care.

This agreement builds on the longstanding partnership of the two parties and further clarifies the roles of each moving forward.

In particular, the memorandum provides for:

• development of a family-centered approach of neonatal care in Ukraine
• learning the world experience of providing assistance to prematurely born children and children with acquired or congenital surgical and somatic pathology
• improving the legal field in the field of neonatology and child surgery
• neonatological service development
• implementation of international forms of analytical reporting and statistics
• holding compatible meetings on perinatal aid policy
• involvement of leading industry specialists, in holding conferences, seminars and trainings for doctors
• organization of team training staff and ensuring effective communication

Below are images of the historic agreement itself, along with photos of its signatories; CMCF Vice President Jolanta Martinoff, and Viktor Liashko, Ukrainian Minister of Health as well as Rostyslav Tistyk, deputy of the Verkhovna Rada.

Children’s Medical Care Foundation is proud to announce that at long last, 54 pieces of advanced medical equipment it was able to secure the donation of from Polish pediatric hospitals in 2018, have finally been cleared for official use at pediatric medical centers throughout Ukraine.

Obtaining licensing to enable official use of this equipment, which included orthopedic beds, anesthesia machines, bactericidal and manipulation lamps, a trolley, a laboratory dryer, a respirator, an electromyography device, closed incubators, and resuscitation tables for newborns-the crucial final step in this multi-stage humanitarian aid shipment process-proved more challenging than initially envisioned, and would likely not have been possible without the help of a number of key allies-a few of whom we didn’t know we had-throughout government and the medical establishment.

Among those who deserve special thanks are Rostyslav Tistyk, deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, Orest Chemerys, Director of the Health Department of the Lviv Regional State Administration as well as the Health Department of the Lviv City Council.

And as with all foundation initiatives and efforts in Ukraine, we are extremely grateful for the ongoing support of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

We are pleased to also report that as word of the successful donation continues to spread throughout the pediatric medical community in Poland, several medical institutions have begun to approach our foundation to inquire about future participation, which warms our hearts and reaffirms our commitment. We look forward to facilitating future such donations.

Please direct all shipment-related inquiries to Jolanta Martinoff, foundation Vice President, at jolanta@cmcf.org.