Georgetown : 19 children and young adults ranging from nine months to 21 years have benefited from heart surgery at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), through collaborative efforts by the Ministry of Health with support from International Children’s Heart Foundation commonly known as Baby Heart.
Most of the surgeries done were on children. Six others received catheterization for clinical cardiac conditions.
The Baby Heart Foundation is a non-profit organisation which expands its reach worldwide through travel, to assist in paediatric cardiac surgeries while at the same time build capacity among the local health practitioners in this regard.
During an update at the Cara Lodge, last evening, Dr. Rodrigo Soto, Chief Executive Officer of Baby Heart Foundation said that the experience has been fantastic thus far, and he feels honoured to have been part of this undertaking.
He also expressed gratitude to the Government of Guyana for allowing the organisation to develop its programme here, while pointing out that they are willing to make two or three visits per year to conduct such surgeries.
Further, he noted with all the work that has been done locally, in the near future Guyana can become the reference center of the region where paediatric surgeries are concerned.
A special Intensive Care Unit (ICU) was refurbished at the GPHC to facilitate post-surgery care for the children, and Baby Heart Foundation donated some amount of equipment and medication for the unit.
Meanwhile, Director of the Echocardiography Education Programme at the GPHC, Dr. Debra Isaac said that when the programme first started it was realised that children accounted for almost 40% of the heart ultrasounds that were done, and many required surgery. She added that after realising this, she became “almost desperate to get help for these kids”.
Dr. Isaac reiterated that the team which consists of 18 members, both local and international health care providers, has given beautiful memories to the families and the children themselves during the time they spent with them.
Prior to these interventions children were sent abroad for surgeries and did not benefit from proper follow-up care. However, with the help of the Health Ministry and Dr Marissa Seepersaud, paediatric surgeon at the GPHC, a Guyana Paediatric Steering Committee was established with the aim of indentifying children that need surgery, and institute screening for others.
Dr. Seepersaud expressed gratitude to the team for the work they have done and that too for a fraction of the cost. She added that there were some small challenges, but the team managed to overcome them.
In addition, Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Health Ministry, Leslie Cadogan expressed gratitude to the team as he congratulated them on a job well done.
Also at the event this evening was First Lady Deolachmee Ramotar who congratulated GPHC on their timely preparation for the surgeries and also thanked and congratulated the team for their work.
The Foundation has been in existence for over 20 years and has successfully completed 7,500 surgeries in 32 countries. The team care providers will be returning to Guyana in July to conduct more such surgeries.
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