The Latter-Day Saints Charities, a Humanitarian Wing of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has presented four new Firefly Phototherapy equipment to the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital in the Central Region.

The gesture is to assist the hospital in the treatment of neonatal or newborn jaundice, of which premature babies stand a high risk.

Neonatal jaundice is a yellowing of a baby’s skin and eyes which can occur when babies have a high level of bilirubin, a yellow pigment produced during the normal breakdown of red blood cells.

Reports have it that, high level of neonatal jaundice can put a baby at risk for deafness, cerebral palsy, or other forms of brain damage.

The Cape Coast Teaching Hospital is noted to record more than 300 newborn babies with high jaundice, but the facility does not have enough lights to bring the condition under control.

Presenting the equipment, the Africa West Area Humanitarian Specialist of the Latter-Day Saints Charities, Mahmud Labinjo, said the Church has put in place a charity organisation to offer timely support to ameliorate the suffering of people.

According to him, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, through the organisation, is determined to relief suffering, foster self-reliance, and give members the opportunity to serve others.

He said maternal newborn care was one of the charity's major areas of intervention.

The Humanitarian specialist in the West African office also said even though Covid-19 had taken a chunk of their attention and resources, the request for the firefly machines could not be overlooked.

The Specialist was confident that the equipment would serve a good purpose to save the lives of many children.

Chief Executive Officer of the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Dr Eric Kofi Ngyedu, received the equipment and handed it over to, Dr Emmanuella Amoako.

Dr Amoako on behalf of the hospital management, commended the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for the massive intervention.

She however called on other charity organisations to emulate the kind gesture of the Latter-Day Saints.

She noted that the facility receives patients from Western, Western North, and parts of the Ashanti region.

The Firefly phototherapy equipment is supplied by Africa Health Supplies who will also maintain the equipment for the hospital for the next two years.