The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : City hospital, U.S. foundation sign pact

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 14, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

City hospital, U.S. foundation sign pact

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, JAN. 13. The Madras Medical Mission hospital (MMM) at Mogappair, will sign a memorandum of understanding with the International Child Heart Foundation, to provide training to medical and paramedical staff on working with underprivileged children. The U.S.-based foundation has worldwide expertise in this field.

A three-day international paediatric cardiology congress organised recently by the two organisationsfocussed on managing congenital heart diseases in developing countries.

Unlike in developed countries where defects can be detected before birth through ultrasound and surgically treated within a few hours of delivery, in India children born with defective hearts may not be referred to a doctor even after three weeks. Some times the child may not exhibit symptoms initially but could die later for want of medical attention, said R. Suresh Kumar, head of paediatric cardiology at Madras Medical Mission.

The foundation instituted in 1993 and headed by William Novick, has been working with children in Belarus since the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster. Some of the defects that could be surgically corrected were considered incurable and children who could have lead normal lives, died. The Belarus Government, recently honoured Dr. Novick for his work.

"About 5.5 million children around the world need heart surgery but don't get it. In China, the waiting list is two million kids annually." The aim of the collaboration is to reach out and train international cardiologists, surgeons and anaesthetists. This effort is expected to help countries in South Asia and `emerging societies'.

Chennai was chosen as the hospital's institute of cardiovascular diseases had successfully treated transposition of great arteries, a common condition the world over. The hospital will act as a hub for training and research activities for professionals from neighbouring countries. Training courses will be offered at the Pondicherry-based Institute of Medical Sciences, an arm of MMM. In India though only eight of every 1,000 children suffer from heart defects, more than 50 per cent come a week after birth, when surgery is risky and difficult.

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