The world's leading killer of children is respiratory illness, which is responsible  for more global pediatric deaths than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined. Pneumonia, which claims the lives of over two million children each year, is one of a host of respiratory diseases, including tuberculosis, that disproportionately afflict HIV-positive children. Oxygen therapy is a critical element of pediatric care, yet in southern Africa, eighty per cent of children who need oxygen do not receive it.

That is why World Altering Medicine conceived of Breath of Life Malawi. We provide oxygen concentrators to pediatric wards of public hospitals in Malawi. It is hard to imagine that in many places in the world, like Malawi, a family with a sick child can arrive at the hospital, often after many hours of travel, only to find that there is little or no oxygen available. Without access to oxygen, children in respiratory distress often will suffocate to death. Yet, a properly functioning oxygen concentrator can support several children at a time and help nurse them back to health.

Originally started on the campus of Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi's capital, Breath of Life now operates in 4 Malawian hospitals and is looking to expand across the country and to other countries in Africa. We recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Malawian Ministry of Health in April 2010 and will be operating in 17 public hospitals by August 2010. In Africa, breath is life, and World Altering Medicine is helping sick children breathe more easily.

One oxygen concentrator, including the oxygen tubing and accessories needed to support up to five children at a time, costs $1,800.00.  Because oxygen concentrators are saving children's lives on a daily basis and can work efficiently for three to five years, this intervention is impactful as well as cost efficient. Due to the amazing generosity of our donors, so far WAM has purchased 22 oxygen concentrators for hospitals in Malawi. We would like to do more. Doctors working in Kamuzu Central Hospital estimate that with sufficient oxygen, twenty-five per cent of child deaths could be averted. Adding just a few concentrators to the pediatric wards of poorly resourced African hospitals would save the lives of countless children, while also shortening hospital stays and freeing up much needed hospital resources to save even more lives.

Ninety-eight per cent of every dollar raised goes directly to the children we serve. Contributing to Breath of Life will immediately and directly benefit Malawian children at risk, offering hope for survival. Read on to hear about some of the children whose lives have been impacted by World Altering Medicine's Breath of Life Program.