What is Hydrocephalus


Hydrocephalus is a sickness whereby the cerebrospinal fluid  that is constantly produced in the brain of about 700 ml/d ("liquor")  is not transported via the spinal chard to the body where it dissipates. This accumulation of liquid causes high pressure in the scull of the head damaging the brain and the musclosceletal system.

Causes of the sickness:
  • genetic causes
  • complications at birth
  • infection during pregnancy
 How can Hydrocephalus be treated ?

Treatment is rather simple and uncomplicated but urgent.  A so-called Shunt-System through a valve and a thin plastic hose reduces the high pressure in the scull of the head, the cerebrospinal fluid through simple gravity flows into the abdominal cavity , where the liquor is absorbed by the kidneys.



How do we help with our organization:

Through our already long-standing relationship and cooperation with the two successfull and locally re-known Non-Govermental Organisations (NGO), namely the Friends of the Philippine General Hospital (FoPGH), the  Hydrocephalus Foundation of the Philippines (HFP) we have access to several local hospitals, where the children are operated free of charge, provided the shunt-system can be provided. 

The above mentioned  NGOs help to identify eligible (poorest) patients and organize the admissions to the hospitals.
Our partner- NGOs provide us then with  
  • a screening report regarding the eligibility  and provide family back of the patient including the contact address ,
  • a picture of the patient-child before and after the operation, and
  • a thank-you-not of the parents to our foundation.
In addition to the post-operative care by our Partners in HFP,  the leader of our organisation, in connection with personal travel to Manila, then visits annually a sample of about four patients which are selected on a random basis with subsequent reporting on those visits.

Under KiN and in cooperation with FoPGH  we were able to help 227 children since 2004. Since early  2018 when we started our cooperation with HFP, we have delivered 45 additional shuntsystems for operations, all of which have now been used

With a donation of about US 250, we enable a "normal" life for one of those Hydrocephalus-children !!!!