OREANDA-NEWS. December 28, 2012. GE’s Vice Chairman John Rice and wife Cammie recently visited the Cambodia Children’s Fund (CCF) Community Center to make a personal donation of a portable, palm sized diagnostic device with ultrasound technology. Designed for use by doctors to scan expectant mothers, the technology manufactured by GE and named ‘vscan’, is designed for use in remote areas where medical equipment and facilities are scarce or nonexistent.

Cambodia which has a population of over 14 million has one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in South East Asia. Statistics show that while infant mortality rates of those under 5 years of age have declined from 95 to 45 deaths per 1,000 over the last ten years, neonatal mortality rates are high. About 790 mothers die each year in Cambodia from childbirth.

More than two billion people globally do not have access to basic elements of a healthy life, including the ability to see a doctor or visit a health clinic. The vscan is an example of an innovation that helps to overcome some of the major barriers in providing primary care such as access and cost.

The Fund provides life-changing education, nourishment and healing to vulnerable children from some of Cambodia’s most destitute communities. The Fund cares for more than 1,500 children today and has extended its services to provide for their families and communities in crisis.

CCF was founded by former film executive Scott Neeson, who traveled to Cambodia on holiday in early 2003 and found his life changed by the desperate circumstances and unlikely courage of Phnom Penh's most impoverished children. He is the Fund’s Executive Director, performing daily fieldwork and overseeing the operations of CCF’s various facilities.