Health

New lease of life for 29 heart patients

September 29, 2022 4:27 pm

21 children were given a new lease of life after receiving free life-saving heart surgeries over the past two weeks.

The surgeries were conducted at the Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Heart Hospital by a team from the National University Hospital of Singapore.

During the World Heart Day celebration, Hospital Director Doctor Krupali Tappoo commended the specialists for performing the procedures, with the youngest patient being only five-months-old.

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“They’ve all sacrificed so much of their time to be here and they’ve made an incredible effort to be here with the one goal to save the lives of the children of our beloved nation.”

She says the team was also assisted by nurses from Malaysia and Australia as well as a team from the Sai Sanjeevani Hospital in India.

Leading paediatric cardiac surgeon, Doctor Laszlo Kiraly says 75 per cent of the procedures were open-heart surgeries.

“In Fiji and the surrounding islands, there are two and a half thousand babies born annually with congenital heart disease. This is a huge number. Sai Sanjeevani Hospital is a great place to become a unique provider for these children.”

Dr Tappoo also announced that the Sai Prema Foundation will be hosting the South Pacific’s first ever Paediatric Cardiac Conference in April next year.

She says the conference will be attended by surgeons, cardiologists and specialists from around the world, to share their knowledge in the field.

The Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Heart Hospital has provided free life-saving heart surgery to 81 children as well as over 3,000 free echocardiograms.