Pediatric Cardiac Surgery

Context: assistance in specialized surgery for a medically developed country that is devastated by the war

The war that has destroyed a good part of Iraq and the violence that is still going on in the country have drastically reduced the capacity of the national health system to take care of the population, despite its great qualities. With an average of 8 cases out of 1.000 births, it means that every year 7.000 new Iraqi children suffer from congenital heart diseases – a figure that raises up to 1.500 only in Baghdad. 

ALIMA’s Action

In partnership with the Chain of Hope, ALIMA participates to the development of a program to curate the Iraqi children suffering from cardiac pathologies that need an open-heart surgery. Today, despite the efforts already provided by the Chain of Hope, which led to the creation of two complete surgery teams, it is still not possible to realize that kind of operations for children that weight less than 20 pounds.

With the Chain of Hope, ALIMA is setting up a pediatric and neonatal surgery unit in the biggest cardio-vascular surgery center of Iraq, Ibn El-Bitar Hospital in Bagdad. With 2 surgical units, 40 hospital beds and 12 intensive care beds, this structure will be in use during the year 2011.

The support to Ibn El-Bitar Hospital has 3 aspects:

-          specialized surgical training of the medical staff;

-          furnishing in equipment and medical material;

-          staff training for the use of the equipment.

Lastly, in order to allow the complete efficiency and the long-lasting activity of the unit, ALIMA and the Chain of Hope will organize different training sessions for technical and medical staff that will focus on equipment use and maintenance.

This project is a first step towards the mastering, the autonomy and the development of the taking care of new-born children, as well as of children suffering from cardiac pathologies in Iraq.

In 2011, a surgical visit led by Pr. Polhner allows us to operate 11 children suffering from congenital cardiac deformity.

At least 4 surgical international missions are planned in 2011; in order to sustain and train the Iraqi teams.