BLIS joins with Salvation Army against childhood disease

BLIS Technologies Ltd joins forces with The Salvation Army on war against childhood disease.

Dunedin based, BLIS Technologies Ltd (NZX: BLT) and The Salvation Army have joined forces to fight the battle against tonsillitis and rheumatic fever, which generally affects children and has been reaching levels within New Zealand only seen in the third world.

In a recent announcement, BLIS Technologies Ltd has advised that it has teamed up with The Salvation Army to provide young children and their families in the Otago and Southland with free throat probiotic lozenges. These lozenge are the same as those sold in the retail pharmacy and over the internet; BLIS K12 Throat Guard.

According to BLIS Technologies, these probiotic lozenges contain a beneficial but yet powerful stain of probiotic bacteria called BLIS K12. Professor John Tagg from the Department of Microbiology at the University of Otago, first discovered this strain of probiotic bacteria nearly 20 years ago.

Professor Tagg, who as a child, suffered from rhematic fever after acquiring a case of tonsillitis, dedicated much of his academic life to exploring ways to fight this disease. He examined why certain people were less susceptible to this type of infection than others. Prof Tagg discovered that some (but not all) of the natural and beneficial bacteria that live in the mouth and throat have developed novel and specialised methods to defend against other bacterial invaders. He later discovered that BLIS K12 was one such strain of specialised bacteria and could protect against those disease-producing bacteria known to cause tonsillitis and rheumatic fever in some children.

Earlier this year, BLIS Technologies Ltd agreed to join with The Salvation Army in Dunedin to supply lozenges containing this BLIS K12 probiotic to children and their families in the lower South Island, who The Salvation Army determined are in need of additional welfare and likely to be at higher risk from tonsillitis. It appears that lack of home heating and poorer quality nutrition contribute to more frequent infections in children. It is thought that children in these families were likely to be at higher risk from winter throat infection and could benefit from supporting their immune system throughout the year.

BLIS Technologies Ltd is preparing to donate a number of lozenges based on sales from their Internet business. (www.blis.co.nz).The greater the Internet sales are for the Throat Guard range of products, the higher the number of lozenges that can be provided to The Salvation Army for distribution. Over the next 12 months, it is hoped that this project will supply BLIS K12 lozenges to roughly 100 children, every day for a year.

Both BLIS Technologies Ltd and The Salvation Army have stated that if this programme works successfully, it could potentially be rolled out to other regions of New Zealand which are known to have high rates of rheumatic fever.

Spokesperson for BLIS Technologies Ltd, Mr Mukesh Kumar said “We are very excited to partner with The Salvation Army and to take on a project that promotes health for those who need it most, because we are just a small New Zealand company and we simply could not take on a project like this by ourselves. BLIS Technologies has been retailing our probiotic product in pharmacy for the past 10 years and we have had great support from consumers and the public, so the management and board decided it was time to acknowledge that support and give back to the people of New Zealand.”

Mr Kumar indicated that The Salvation Army would start providing children that it determines are in need with BLIS K12 probiotic at the end of October, giving each child a months supply of lozenges at a time. “The dosage is just one lozenge per day and these are either sucked or slowly chewed and it is as easy as that”. Kumar advised.

ENDS

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