Bunnies to raise money for CF

NEW monitoring equipment will provide more accurate and effective treatment for hundreds of Irish children with cystic fibrosis.

Consultants in Temple Street Children’s Hospital in Dublin believe a bronchoscopy monitor will give them scientific information on the progress of a child’s condition. Up until now they relied on the word of the child on how they were feeling.

The monitor works by taking a snapshot of the child’s lungs to see if they are improving or worsening, allowing doctors to make better decisions on what or when treatment is needed.

Temple Street is hoping to raise €100,000 for the new machinery, by selling chocolate bunnies in the run-up to Easter.

The 10g Gold Bunny, made from Lindt, will cost €1 and will be sold in Superquinn stores around the country in the first two weekends of March.

Every cent of the bunnies sold will go towards funding the new monitoring machine.

Ireland has the highest rate of cystic fibrosis in the world, at one per 1,353 births. However life expectancy for CF patients here, at 21, is lower than most European countries.

In recent months, those living with the disease have highlighted the problems they face in accessing treatment because of a shortage of funding and a lack of public treatment services.

Chief executive of Temple Street, Denise Fitzgerald, said the equipment is “vital” in treating children with the disease.

“Cystic fibrosis is a life threatening, recessively, inherited disease and there is an average carrier rate on one in 20 people in Ireland. We are very grateful to Lindt for helping us to get on step closer to our goal,” she said.

* childrenshospital.ie