World Heart Day: 2 lakh children born with congenital heart disease in India

Each year, World Heart Day is observed on September 29 to increase public awareness of cardiovascular disease. Image Courtesy: iStock

In India, 2,00,000 children are born with congenital heart disease, each year. Out of these one-fifth of whom are likely to be in serious condition requiring surgical interventions within the first year of the birth. These surgeries are resource-intensive and expensive, costing between Rs 1,00,000 to Rs 5,00,000 per surgery.

Due to its cost, the treatment is unaffordable for parents to save their children. To address this issue, Rotary District 3141 together with Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital Mumbai is providing quality treatment to children and supporting them to provide low-cost/free-of-cost surgeries to economically disadvantaged families. The project aims to support families who cannot afford the cost of CHD treatment.

Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) is one of the most common birth defects prevalent in children. It is a defect that restricts heart development and function since birth, capable of changing the way in which blood flows through a person's heart. Under the Touching Little Heart initiative, to date, more than 2,700 children have been treated by surgery or interventions for congenital heart defects and 70 per cent of the children have been newborns or infants, a few hours old.

Commenting on the initiative, Khuzem Sakarwala, Founder Rotary Club of Bravehearts said, "Our mission is to give a new lease of life to all the unfortunate children who are born with congenital heart defects and provide them with world-class treatment. Our aim is to treat 1,000 more children suffering from CHD by June 2024. Through impactful awareness campaigns and a dedicated software application for patient data management, we aim to efficiently reach our goal."

The Children's Heart Centre (CHC) at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital started functioning in 2009, with a dedicated & experienced team of 30 medical and paramedical personnel and 120 dedicated nurses to take care of the child with heart ailments. In these years this centre has grown to be the largest private centre in Western India, delivering care to children with heart ailments from a few hours after birth to older ones and into adulthood.

Rotary brings together a global network of volunteer leaders dedicated to tackling the world's most pressing humanitarian challenges. Rotary connects 1.4 million members in over 200 countries and geographical areas. Their work improves lives at both the local and international levels, from helping those in need in their own communities to working toward a polio-free world. For more information, visit Rotary.org.