History of CHI

Child Health International (originally named International Integrated Health Association) was founded by Roy Ridgway after spending several years working with medical exchange programmes between Russia and the UK and with the IPPNW (International Physicians for the prevention of Nuclear War). Having worked to reduce risk of the biggest negative to health, namely Nuclear War (with some success!) Roy wanted to promote health in a positive way. He saw the provision of healthcare as a fundamental human right and set up the charity to help establish a more equitable distribution of health resources internationally which would include; the promotion of healthy life styles, encouraging an holistic approach to health - integrating different disciplines - and establishing community based medical centres.

Roy and his wife, Dorothea had had a child with Cystic Fibrosis who died at the age of 29 and on a trip to Moscow they discovered that children there with Cystic Fibrosis were greatly in need of help. This lead to the first major project of the charity starting in 1993 and continuing for several years.

From the beginning the charity's main focus has been on helping children with Cystic Fibrosis although work has been undertaken to help in other areas of need, in particular to help children with congenital heart disease.

Projects

The following is a summary of the charity’s projects (prior to recent and ongoing projects) from 1993.

Moscow/Southampton Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Project

In 1993, the IIHA/Moscow/Southampton CF Project was launched. The CF Department of the Republican Children’s Hospital and the CF Department of Southampton General Hospital agreed to collaborate on improving the quality of care of CF children in Russia. At the same time, IIHA worked closely with the Russian CF parents charity in developing a family support service. These programmes were at first supported by the UK Department of Health and Charity Know How, an initiative of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and a number of leading British charities. After 1994, the Project was financed by the Know How Health Care Small Partnerships Scheme (HSPS). The care of CF children became a model for child health care in the Republican Children’s Hospital, who went on to train regional centres in the management of CF. As a result of the charity’s initiatives CF centres were established in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Saratov, Sverdlovsk, Novosibirsk and Veronezh.

In 1997, HSPS congratulated IIHA’s work on the project. Julia South (Board member of HSPS) said that the members of the board’s evaluation team were extremely impressed with what IIHA had accomplished in Moscow both on the clinical side and on the outreach side, including the development of parent support groups, which had become an effective pressure group. She saw IIHA as an umbrella organisation, looking after all the different groups and bringing them together in an holistic approach, which included community-based care and attention to environmental factors.

(Click here to see a 5 minute TV documentary made by BBC South Today on IIHA’s work in Moscow which includes interviews with Roy Ridgway and Chris Rolles.)

Odessa/Care Of Children With CF

In 1994, in response to a request from the sister of a child suffering from CF in Odessa, Ukraine, the UK Department of Health contacted IIHA and offered to finance a visit to Odessa to assess what kind of help was needed for CF children and whether it was possible to introduce a programme similar to the Moscow programme. The result was the twinning of London’s Royal Brompton Hospital with the University Hospital of Odessa (the Pirogov). The project was co-financed by the European Union PHARE/TACIS LIEN programme and Charity Know How.

An EU Tacis Monitoring Report of the project (Sept, 1996),describes its implementation as good, particularly the clinical side, with 100% of expected project outputs achieved (I.e. improved clinical care of children with CF).

Siberia/Uk Medical Exchange Programme

Two medical exchange programmes between CF wards in the Siberian cities of Novosibirsk and Omsk and CF departments of the Wessex hospitals of Bath and Poole were launched in October 1997. The programmes were financed by HSPS.

Helping Russian Children With Heart Problems

In 1995 the Russian Embassy in London recommended that a Moscow charity called the Society for Children with Cardiovascular Diseases (SCVD) should try to obtain the help of IIHA. Representatives of IIHA and SCVD met in Moscow in October, 1995, and agreed to form a partnership. Every year more than 13,000 children require cardiac surgery, but only 4,000 of them could be operated on in Moscow. The others faced a grim and hopeless future unless paediatric cardiac services in Moscow were improved or the children were able to get help from abroad. Following a meeting between representatives of IIHA, SCVD and Dr A.P. Salmon, paediatric cardiac physician of the Wessex Cardiothoracic Centre, and a subsequent meeting between Dr Salmon and Professor Vilor Selivanenko, head of the Department of Cardiosurgery at the Moniki Institute, it was decided to organise a programme of training for the Russian surgeons which addressed the following problems:

1. the lack of expertise in infant corrective and post-operative care management;
2. the need for better management of children with complex heart problems;
3. the need for training in the multidisciplinary approach to health care.

Medical exchanges took place in 1997 between the Moniki Institute and the Wessex Cardiothoracic Centre. These exchanges were financed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Health Care Small Partnership Scheme.

Helping Lithuanian Children With Heart Problems

In 1998 a team headed by heart surgeon Marcus Haw from the paediatric cardiac unit of Southampton General Hospital visited Vilnius University Hospital in Lithuania to work with Vilnius surgeons in carrying out heart operations on young children. The team from Vilnius also came to the UK to visit the cardiac unit at Southampton Hospital. The project was funded by the British Embassy in Vilnius and a Lithuanian charity called Status Vaikams.

IIHA Conferences

Health In The Workplace

In July, 1992, an agreement between IIHA, the Liverpool John Moores University and the Moscow Government Centre was signed to initiate a series of conferences on Health in the Workplace. The first of these conferences took place at the President Hotel, Moscow, from 30^th May to 1^st June, 1994. There were messages of support, emphasising the importance of developing international co-operation, from Boris Yeltsin and Yuri Lushkov, Mayor of Moscow.

The Rights Of Disabled People

As part of the process of restoring individual freedom to the citizens of the Czech Republic, and increasing their overall well-being, the Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MOLSA) called a two-day national round table conference in 1995 of European and Czech experts to present papers on the law relating to disability.

IIHA was invited by the MOLSA PHARE Programme to collaborate with a German firm of health consultants (EPOS) on the organisation of this conference in which the experts discussed how the rights of disabled people are protected by the constitution or by special laws in European countries. Czech experts presented papers on the situation in the Czech Republic.

IIHA recruited the services of the British lawyer, Dr Richard Light, who had extensive expertise in disability law and policy, to lead the team of experts. Members of IIHA who took part were Tony Wolstenholme, moderator of the conference, and Alan Massam, IIHA Public Affairs Manager, who worked with the experts in writing the final conference report with its recommendations.

Smaller Projects

The charity has been involved in smaller and exploratory projects (some of which were not developed due to lack of funding).

Health of Future Generations

Exploring ways of introducing the concept of pre-conception care in Russia as a way of ensuring safe motherhood and preventing birth defects.

Unicorn

Helping a newly formed charity - Unicorn, in the North Caucasus that was established to deal with some of the appalling health problems brought about by pollution and the TB epidemic in the highly industrial city of Vladikavkaz.

The Magic Key

A Moscow charity for the care of children with cancer and their families. IIHA worked with The Magic Key in a drive to increase public awareness of the problems of children with cancer and their families in Moscow.

Odessa Street Children

In September 2002 Dorothea Ridgway and Dr John Stephen were invited to Odessa by Professor Nicolai Aryayev, Department of Paediatrics, Odessa State Medical School in his capacity as Chairman of the Family Support Association (F.S.A.) - (a registered NGO now incorporating the Cystic Fibrosis Parent Association originally set up by the IIHA in 1994/1995) with the view to discussing the plight of street children in Odessa and what to do to help them. Dr. Stephen arranged meetings between representatives from Odessa and the Rumanian NGO - Fundatia de Sprijiu Comunnitar (Foundation for Community Support) to enable the delegation from Odessa to learn from the Rumanian experience.

CF Mission to Bucharest

In January 2003 Dr. John Stephen and Dorothea Ridgway made an exploratory visit to Bucharest, Romania at the invitation of Madeline Goodman who runs a charity for sick children there. They met Dr Tomescu, responsible for treatment of CF children in Bucharest Hospital. Among the achievements were: - CF information translated into Romanian. The parents got together with doctors to campaign for the effective treatment of CF. Parent meetings now take place regularly.

Belgrade CF Project

In October 2003 Dr Ron Knight, head of the CF Unit, Frimley Park Hospital, London with his team visited the Institute of Belgrade (Serbia) providing IV treatment to selected patients and reviewing physiotherapy techniques.

For more information on smaller projects please see NEWSLETTERS.

For information on recent and on-going projects please see PROJECTS

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