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Stamford, Conn. – August 23, 2012 – AmeriCares, a global health and humanitarian aid organization, is partnering with Cypress Pharmaceutical, Inc. to improve the quality of life for children suffering from chronic kidney disease in Nicaragua, where the illness has reached epidemic levels in parts of the country. The donation of Rena-Vite Rx will provide a year’s supply of vitamins for pediatric kidney disease patients at the Mascota Children’s Hospital in Managua and Hospital Espana in Chinandega. According to the Pan American Health Organization, deaths from chronic kidney disease in Nicaragua more than doubled between 2000 and 2010, rising from 466 to 1,047. In Western Nicaragua, where the hospitals are located, rates of renal failure are among the highest in the country.
Rena-Vite Rx helps patients prone to vitamin deficiencies often caused by dialysis or the restrictive diets of kidney disease patients. The high levels of chronic renal failure have placed a heavy burden on the Nicaraguan health care system. Many patients require years of expensive dialysis treatment while waiting for a kidney transplant, leaving little funding for other medical needs. The donation from AmeriCares and Madison, Miss.-based Cypress Pharmaceutical, Inc. will allow the hospitals to purchase vitamins they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford.
“Patients undergoing dialysis lose a significant amount of vitamins in the process. This donation will help improve the health of the youngest patients suffering from kidney disease,” said AmeriCares Senior Vice President of Global Programs Christoph Gorder.
The donation was part of a $1.4 million aid shipment AmeriCares recently delivered to Nicaragua. AmeriCares delivers more than $160 million in aid each year to public hospitals, nonprofit clinics and social service agencies across Latin America and the Caribbean.