Tygerberg Hospital fundraising campaign for bronchoscope to improve care for children

Professor Pierre Goussard, head of paediatric pulmonology and PICU at Tygerberg Hospital and Stellenbosch University, and chair of the Tygerberg Hospital Children’s Trust, is calling on the public to help fund the purchase of an Olympus bronchoscope for the hospital’s Department of Paediatrics and Child Health.

Tygerberg Hospital serves as a referral centre for complex paediatric cases, including tuberculosis (TB), HIV, complicated pneumonia, congenital lesions, and other serious respiratory conditions.

Bronchoscopes are important for examining the airways of very young children, improving early diagnosis of TB and malignancies, and performing interventional procedures to treat airway conditions.

The hospital's paediatric pulmonology division performs around 350 bronchoscopies a year, with around 33% related to TB in both HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients, and roughly 25% involving interventional procedures.

"Our vision is to improve children's health through high-quality service delivery, education, and relevant research from highly skilled specialists. This includes funding for cutting-edge medical equipment to provide the best possible care for our young patients, as well as student training and research excellence.

"With the help of new equipment, we will be able to upgrade our subspecialist units to compete with the best units in the world," said Professor Goussard.

Tygerberg Hospital also trains doctors from South Africa and other African countries, many of whom return home to provide specialised care in their communities. 

Professor Goussard said a new bronchoscope would dramatically improve patient care by enabling more effective evaluation of lung diseases, removal of foreign bodies, and biopsies, reducing the need for high-care referrals.

"There is a big need for expensive specialized equipment, with limited funds available. It gives us the ability to do bronchoscopy on children of all ages. Scopes need to be cleaned, and this causes delays between cases. With additional scopes, more procedures can be done."

Outside the hospital, Professor Goussard is an avid marathon runner and uses his races to support the GivenGain campaign, launched in 2023, to purchase the Olympus bronchoscope. He has completed over 50 marathons, including in France, Switzerland, Germany, and other countries.

He has raised just over R51 000 of the R400 000 target. Professor Goussard recently celebrated a personal achievement by improving his best time by 26 minutes at the Red Hill Marathon 2026, proudly running in the colours of the Tygerberg Hospital Children’s Trust.

The Trust is now inviting the public to mark his accomplishment by contributing to the fundraising campaign, which can be found at this link.