Khatuna Mgebrishvili, Project Manager
Georgian CF Foundation
Since 2001 the Georgian CF Foundation has been busy improving CF care
in Georgia. Our first step was when Mr. Herman Weggen, president of
CFW, visited Georgia and developed a ‘Work plan to increase the
care for children with CF in Georgia’.
After a lot of effort, Christine Noke, Project Manager, implemented
a five-phase plan to develop a CF Clinic. We have recently completed
Phase 1, the renovation and furnishing of a wing of the Children’s
Republic Hospital in Tbilisi as a specialized nine-bed CF clinic and
diagnostic laboratory. (For more information on the project, visit http://www.cfww.org/programs/.)
It is my understanding that the project in Georgia is a Pilot Project
for CFW. When I attended the 27th European Cystic Fibrosis Conference
last June, I had the chance to see how important this Pilot Project
is for other developing countries. Like Georgia, many do not have CF
care centers.
I also had the chance to meet with people from developed countries,
where CF care is readily available. I will try my best to see that CF
care in Georgia will reach these levels and that the people who support
us can say our effort has not been in vain, that we have helped more
people with CF.
Again, I would like to thank the people from CFW and member countries
that made it possible for me to attend, through the Solidarity Fund,
the European Cystic Fibrosis Conference. I really felt like a member
of a big happy family.
Kind regards,
Khatuna Mgebrishvili
