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Mending Hearts and Building Bridges: The Save a Child's Heart Foundation
Lior Sasson1, Akiva Tamir, Sion Houri
1Save a Child's Heart, Holon, Israel (Drs Sasson, Tamir, Houri, and Kapusta); Cardiothoracic Surgery Department (Dr Sasson), Pediatric Cardiology Unit (Dr Tamir), and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (Dr Houri), Wolfson Medical Center affiliated with Sackler School of Medicine, Holon, Israel; Departments of Orthopedics (Dr Betawe) and Cardiac Surgery (Dr Darwazah), Palestine Medical Center, Palestinian Authority, Ramallah; Pediatric Cardiology Unit, The Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel (Dr Kapusta); Children's Heart Center, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands (Dr Kapusta); Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (Ms Pivnick); and Division of Cardiac Surgery, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada (Dr Goldman).
Insights
Save a Child's Heart provides vital pediatric cardiac care to children in developing nations. This initiative has successfully treated over 3600 children globally, fostering local capacity through training and establishing centers of excellence.
Area of Science:
- Global Health
- Pediatric Cardiology
- International Cooperation
Background:
- Addressing critical pediatric cardiac care gaps in underdeveloped countries.
- Highlighting the challenges faced by children requiring specialized heart treatment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish a center of excellence for pediatric cardiac care.
- To develop partner sites for evaluation and referral of pediatric cardiac patients.
- To train local medical teams to build capacity for pediatric cardiac care.
Main Methods:
- Establishment of a specialized pediatric cardiac center at Wolfson Medical Center, Israel.
- Development of international partnerships for patient evaluation and referral.
- Comprehensive training programs for medical personnel from partner countries.
Main Results:
- Treatment of over 3600 children from 48 countries, with significant numbers from the Middle East.
- Cooperative efforts with the Palestinian Authority, including examination and treatment of 1750 children.
- Successful training of 21 medical personnel and ongoing "Heart of the Matter Project" supporting Palestinian children's care.
Conclusions:
- Save a Child's Heart serves as a model for global humanitarian healthcare initiatives focused on pediatric heart disease.
- The "Heart of the Matter Project" exemplifies successful regional cooperation in healthcare, transcending political challenges.
Context:
Save a Child's Heart addresses the challenges of heart care for children in underdeveloped countries.
Objective:
Save a Child's Heart has created a center of excellence for pediatric cardiac care at the Wolfson Medical Center in Israel, helped develop partner sites for evaluation and referral, and trained medical teams to return and build their own capacity for local cardiac care.
Results:
Save a Child's Heart has treated more than 3600 children from 48 countries, with 50% from Iraq, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, and Syria. In cooperation with the Palestinian Authority, Save a Child's Heart has examined more than 6000 children and treated 1750 children, trained 21 medical personnel, and conducted seminars for Palestinian medical personnel. The "Heart of the Matter Project," funded by the European Union, US Agency for International Development, the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and the Israeli Ministry of Regional Cooperation, is currently training a team at the Wolfson Medical Center from the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah and provides funds for Palestinian children's care in Israel.
Conclusions:
Save a Child's Heart is a model of a global humanitarian health care initiative with a single focus on heart disease in children. The "Heart of the Matter Project" is a model of health care based on regional cooperation despite local political tensions.