THE Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), in collaboration with the International Children’s Heart Foundation (ICHF), commonly known as the ‘Baby Heart Foundation’, will, over the next two weeks, offer free cardiac surgeries to a number of Guyanese children who suffer from congenital heart defects.The mission of Baby Heart Foundation is to bring the skills, technology and expertise to cure and care for children with congenital heart disease in developing nations.

The ICHF has placed 18 of its members in Guyana to examine several children in order to determine who will undergo surgery during their visit.

At a press briefing held on Sunday at the GPHC’s Resource Centre, Health Minister Dr. Bheri Ramsaran expressed heartfelt appreciation for this initiative, and his sentiments were echoed by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GPHC, Michael Khan.

Acknowledging that the initiative has been in the making for quite a while, Dr. Ramsaran deemed it a “big step forward”, and added that the Ministry of Health fully supports this undertaking, since it will make a significant impact on Guyana.

Adding that the initiative will address issues that previously created challenges, Dr. Ramsaran disclosed that a significant slice of the budget had, in the past, been used to send children with heart defects and their parents overseas, since Guyana did not have the ability to undertake those surgeries.

Mr. Michael Khan disclosed his optimism that the surgeries would all be successful, and uttered his appreciation to the overseas organisation and the Ministry of Health for the assistance being provided.

Persons with congenital heart defects who are aged between six months and 21 years old are expected to undergo surgeries. The GPHC has also setup a brand new paediatric Intensive Care Unit.

The ICHF is next expected in Guyana sometime in July to perform another set of surgeries.

The GPHC first met with officials from Baby Heart Foundation in October 2013 to discuss this initiative. Thereafter, GPHC formed a Guyana Paediatric Cardiology Steering Committee tasked with identifying and prioritising children who require surgery all over Guyana.

The foundation’s association with the GPHC over the last year and a half has seen 13 babies being sent by the ICHF to Honduras and the Dominican Republic to obtain heart surgery. The Three Rivers Foundation facilitated the airfares.

Currently, the Balwant Singh hospital is the only local medical institution that performs such operations, but, the cost is about $1M.