Press Releases

Budapest, September 4, 2009 10:00

Donations can be given to the Hungarian Foundation for the Rescue of Premature and Newborn Babies by calling Telekom's Donation Line 1788 in September and October.

The Foundation wants to finance the purchase of an ambulance car equipped for the intensive care of premature babies with the donations received on the Donation Line.
The Hungarian Foundation for the Rescue of Premature and Newborn Babies has the mission to provide professional rescue for newborn and premature babies in danger of death by transporting them from the place of birth to an intensive care center. When necessary newborn babies are transported from the centers for diagnostic examinations and therapeutic interventions and operations.
According to statistics provided by the Central Statistical Office in Hungary the premature birth rate is 7 to 8%. Premature babies have generally lower weight, have different body proportions and various organs function differently from those of healthy babies. Their lungs, nervous system and brain are underdeveloped and their immune system is very weak. Without rescue and intensive hospital treatment premature babies cannot survive.

The Hungarian Foundation for the Rescue of Premature and Newborn Babies coordinates the work of eight foundations outside Budapest - in Debrecen, Győr, Miskolc, Nyíregyháza, Pécs, Szeged, Veszprém and Zalaegerszeg - and represents their interests. Regional foundations for the rescue of children and premature babies ensure in 18 counties in Hungary that babies born in hospitals, at home or in public places can be transported in time to Perinatal Intensive Care Centers.
The eight foundations cover about eighty percent of the territory of Hungary. A condition for the operation of foundations outside Budapest and a guarantee of strict professional control is that an ambulance medical service is provided by pediatrists in cooperation with hospitals. Currently they have nine ambulance cars.
Thanks to achievements made so far the newborn death rate in Hungary dropped by four percent which is significant by international comparison too.

Magyar Telekom, as a leading infocommunication carrier, holds it important to help the development of health care in Hungary by supporting up-to-date technological solutions.

Telekom Donation Line (1788) has been operating for seven years and is accessible from Magyar Telekom's fixed and mobile networks; one call or SMS costs HUF 100. Calls are not subject to VAT except calls made with Domino prepaid cards. The total costs of calls received in the two-month period will be donated to the Hungarian Foundation for the Rescue of Premature and Newborn Babies to enable them to expand their existing fleet with the purchase of a reserve ambulance car for the rescue of premature babies.