DUBAI: About 25 children got a new lease of life as they successfully underwent complex heart surgeries and catherisation procedures at Dubai Hospital recently during a campaign that ran for ten days.

During this time, 25 heart procedures were performed for free on children of ages one week to 19 years. All the children are recovering well and the operations were a success, a senior official at Dubai Health Authority (DHA) said.

Dr Obaid Al Jassim, head of Cardiology at the Dubai Hospital, said, “The children included expatriates from various countries such as Yemen, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Iraq.”

“The team of cardiologists performed various procedures, including complex paediatric heart procedures such as the arterial switch, which as of now is only performed at the Dubai Hospital in the emirate,” he added.

The surgeries were carried out by a team of doctors comprising specialists and surgeons from the DHA hospitals and Italian doctors from San Donato Hospital in Milan.

The programme titled ‘Heart-healthy’ initiative began in October 2007. So far, more than 250 children of various nationalities have benefited from this initiative.

“We have performed several complex procedures since the beginning of this initiative, which has provided patients who can ill afford treatment, with a chance to survive,” Al Jassim said.

“All the cases have been successful and we are looking forward to the next workshop which will take place in October this year,” he added.

Whereas the cost of all the operations for Emiratis was covered by the DHA, the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment covered the cost of the operations for expatriates.

Dr Al Jassim said if the same complex surgeries were to be performed abroad, the cost would range from Dhs200,000-Dhs400,000.

Dr Alessandro Frigiola, chief of Cardiac Surgery at the San Donato Hospital in Milan, said this initiative stems out of their commitment to alleviate the suffering of children with heart disorders the world over.

He and his team regularly visit different parts of the world to help treat children with congenital heart disease as part of their work for the charity mission known as, ‘Association for Children with Heart Disease in the World.’

They will be visiting Dubai again in October this year to continue the free heart surgery programme.

Besides Dr Obaid Al Jassim, others who were part of the DHA team of doctors, included Dr Ahmed Al Kamali, consultant paediatric cardiologist at Dubai Hospital, Dr Shahraban Abdullah Al Shari, consultant paediatric cardiologist at Al Wasl Hospital and Dr Sameer Sajwai, paediatric cardiac specialist at Dubai Hospital.

Source: http://gulftoday.ae/portal/80b1ed17-1391-4db3-b06a-7d42964c8022.aspx