Over the next two weeks a number of Guyanese children who suffer from congenital heart defects will undergo free cardiac surgeries at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC).
A release yesterday from the GPHC said that this is as a result an 18 member team visiting Guyana from the International Children’s Heart Foundation (ICHF) commonly known as Baby Heart Foundation. The team is currently examining several children to determine who will undergo surgery during this visit. The release said that the group is expected back in Guyana sometime in July to perform another set of surgeries.
The release said that the foundation will also be providing training to local medical professionals at the hospital so the health care institution will eventually have the expertise to perform such operations on its own. The Baby Heart Foundation has also donated medical resources to GPHC to help facilitate such surgeries.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, to announce the upcoming surgeries Minister of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran stated that this is “big step forward” adding that the initiative has been in the making for quite a while.
He said that the initiative will address issues that previously created challenges since a significant part of the budget in the past had been used to send children with heart defects and their parents overseas.
Chief Executive Officer of the GPHC, Michael Khan expressed his appreciation to the overseas organisation for its assistance and the Ministry of Health.
Persons from six months to 21-years-old with congenital heart defects are expected to undergo surgeries, the release added.
The hospital first met with officials from Baby Heart Foundation in October 2013 to discuss this initiative. After the meeting in 2013 with the foundation, GPHC formed a Guyana Paediatric Cardiology Steering Committee. The release said that the committee’s task is to identify and prioritise children who require surgery all over Guyana.
Due to the foundation’s collaboration with the GPHC over the last year and half 13 babies were sent to Honduras and the Dominican Republic for heart operations by the ICHF. The Three Rivers Foundation facilitated the airfares.
