Because of kind people like you, children in Ghana are benefiting from more comfortable and safer care with help from the vein finder shown below. More photos and a video are coming!

To improve on the success of this campaign, we’ve started another to provide long-lasting comfort and safety to children in treatment with several units of a medical device called a PICC line. Learn more here.

“For hours, you hear children screaming as nurses search for veins.”

—Aku Sarpong, Campaign Partner

A VEIN FINDER IS A COMFORT GIVER.

A vein finder makes cancer care much easier for children. This campaign is raising funds for a vein finder for children in treatment at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the largest of its kind in Ghana.

The ISSUE:

In Ghana, most children in chemotherapy suffer repeated unnecessary trauma.

Chemotherapy requires multiple rounds of medications delivered into the bloodstream through a vein, as well as frequent blood draws. This means repeated needle sticks that are harder to bear or occur more frequently than usual for a child with fragile veins and/or veins that are hard to find.

“A five-year-old boy was screaming as nurses tried again and again to find a vein. They told him to calm down. His response: ‘If you knew how much this hurt, you wouldn’t think I could calm down.’”

—Aku Sarpong; Executive Director, Lifeline for Childhood Cancer Ghana

A Simple Solution:

A vein finder.

A vein finder is a handheld device that uses infrared light to help clinicians easily locate veins.

What this means for a child with cancer:

• Less trauma and pain, thanks to fewer failed attempts to locate a vein.
• Less risk of vein damage and associated debilitation.
• More protection for fragile veins, and more strength as a result.

ABOUT OUR PARTNERS:

Korle Bu Teaching Hospital

Korle Bu is the largest teaching hospital in Ghana. The Pediatric Oncology Unit admits 260–280 new childhood cancer cases every year. With 26 inpatient beds, 8 daycare beds and an outreach nursing team, it is Ghana’s leading center for pediatric cancer care.

Lifeline for Childhood Cancer Ghana (LCCG)

LCCG is the fundraising foundation partner of Korle Bu’s pediatric oncology unit. The organization is committed to bridging disparities in cancer treatment and giving every child a chance at safe, dignified care.