Children's Artificial Limbs Project (Jaipur Foot Project -1991)

The Kiwanis Club of Colombo City provided 15 artificial limbs for children in association with the Friend in Need Society under the Jaipur Foot project.

Infusion Pumps for Thalassaemia Patients (1997)

In 1997 the Kiwanis Club of Colombo City donated 4 infusion pumps at a cost of Rs. 26,600 each to
the Anuradhapura, Kurunegala and Chilaw hospitals for the use of children suffering from Thalassaemia major.

Thalassaemia, also known as Cooley's Anaemia, is a fatal, genetic blood disease that strikes children primarily in the South Asian and Mediterranean countries. The only treatment for Thalassaemia major
is regular blood transfusions, usually every three or four weeks. Most children who have these transfusions grow normally and live quite happily into their early twenties. But to live longer, they need other treatment as well. After each blood transfusion the red cells in the new blood are broken down slowly over the next four months. The iron from the red blood cells stays in the body. If it is not removed, it builds up and can damage the liver, the heart and other parts of the body. If this damage
is not prevented most people with Thalassaemia major die when they are twenty years old.

At present the only way to remove the extra iron from the body is to give injections of a drug called Desferal, which is injected under the skin, using a portable battery operated pump, 5-7 nights of every week.