Life Saving Equipment For Babies In Fiji via Accor

Accor Hotels Provide Life Saving Equipment For Babies In Fiji

The Lautoka Hospital Paediatric Department will receive a major shipment of critical medical equipment this week as a result of the Accor Hotels fund raising initiative for Cure Kids Fiji.

The equipment includes several varieties of incubators, a Criticare monitor, infant probes and more. These will be presented to the hospital's General Manager Dr Tora and head paediatrician Dr Taito at 3pm this Thursday 21 June at Mercure Hotel Nadi, by representatives from Accor Hotels and Resorts, Accor staff and children from Nadi Airport School.

Accor Hotels manage Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa, Mocambo Hotel Nadi and Mercure Hotel Nadi.

Cure Kids Fiji raises funds for basic medicine and equipment and since helping to launch the charity in April last year, Accor Hotels have so far raised more than FJ$280, 000, which goes directly towards improving the medical care for the children of Fiji.

From the funds raised they have already purchased paediatric probes, vaccine to treat children with kidney disease and funded a teaching and consulting visit from children's kidney specialist, Dr William Wong of Starship Hospital in Auckland.

Lautoka Hospital is the largest hospital on the West Coast of Viti Levu and Head Paediatrician, Dr Rigamoto Taito is particularly thrilled to be receiving the new Travel Incubator which will be used to transport critically ill babies to Suva Hospital for specialist care, currently unavailable on the east coast.

Accor's spokesperson in Fiji, Paul Stevens, General Manager of Sofitel Fiji says it's fantastic to see all their fund raising efforts come to fruition.

"Our Accor team and our business partners, here and in New Zealand and Australia have worked hard to raise these funds to help improve the odds for the children of Fiji and it's wonderful that the children of Fiji will benefit from essential medical equipment that we generally take for granted.

We have already committed to purchasing more incubators to ensure that every incubator in the Paediatric Department at Lautoka Hospital is working. We have also instigating a fund to ensure the ongoing maintenance and replacement of the equipment we provide to ensure long term sustainability."

A large proportion of the F$280,000 raised in the last year was a result of a key fund raising event "Accor Race to Survive to Cure Kids" held in Fiji in November last year. The event attracted international and local competitors and corporate sponsors from Fiji, New Zealand and Australia.

Such was the success of the event and the ongoing commitment from those who participated and the sponsors that plans are underway to stage the event again in 2008."

Accor is the worldwide leader in hotels, tourism and corporate services, employing 170,000 people in 100 countries. It offers to its individual and corporate clients nearly 40 years of expertise in its two core businesses:

- Hotels: over 4,000 hotels (475,000 rooms) in 90 countries (including 150 hotels and resorts in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific under the brands Sofitel, Grand Mercure, Novotel, Mercure, All Seasons, Ibis and Formule 1) as well as backpacker hostels, travel agencies, restaurants and casinos;

- Services to corporate clients and public institutions: 21 million people in 35 countries benefit from Accor Services' products employee assistance programs, people care and services, incentive, loyalty programs, events, food vouchers.

ENDS

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