Rödl Employee Fund for Children’s Aid: Support for cystic fibrosis patients in the Czech Republic

last updated on 20 December 2021 | reading time approx. 2 minutes

The Czech Cystic Fibrosis Association was founded in 1992 by parents of children suffering from the genetically caused metabolic disease so that they could team up and exchange their experiences of this disorder. The Association offers CF patients and their families social counselling as well as financial and material support and, last but not least, organises events for the public. In November 2019, the Rödl Employee Fund for Children’s Aid, together with colleagues from Rödl & Partner Prague, already donated to the facility. Thanks to the support, ten breathing and inhalation devices for sick children could be purchased again in 2021.

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Cystic fibrosis: clinical picture and therapy

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disorder that affects vital functions such as breathing and digestion. The lungs of patients suffering from cystic fibrosis produce sticky or thick mucus that favours the colonisation of specific bacteria. The patients have difficulty breathing and need to take antibiotics, to which however these bacteria are often resistant. The disorder also impairs the function of the pancreas. The CF patients have problems with the digestive system, they need special nutrition and have to take encapsulated vitamins and enzymes. The disorder usually manifests itself in early childhood, i.e. in the first months or years of life, and is unfortunately still considered incurable.

Intensive therapy can improve the patients’ quality of life, but it is very costly. It involves inhalations on a daily basis, respiratory physiotherapy and taking numerous medications. A lung transplant is considered as a last resort. Thanks to advances in therapy, the life expectancy of CF patients is continuously increasing. In the Czech Republic, there are approx. 500 children suffering from this disorder.

Donation of breathing apparatus

The Rödl colleagues in the Czech Republic have already supported this Association in the past and are aware how difficult it is to live with this disorder. Therefore, the Rödl Employee Fund for Children’s Aid decided to support these children in 2019. The donation made it possible to purchase 22 respirators/inhalers for the children. Due to the generous donation from the Rödl Employee Fund for Children’s Aid, the Rödl & Partner Prague office decided to double the donation and purchase a special device called “SIMEOX” for the children affected by this disorder. Simeox therapy offers patients suffering from chronic lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis effective and comfortable mobilisation of bronchial secretion to restore freer breathing.

With another donation of 2,034.21 euros, ten more breathing/inhalation devices could be purchased for children suffering from cystic fibrosis in 2021. We are very grateful that we were able to make the daily lives of even more children a little easier.