Mending Kid's Hearts

In an effort to support AKU’s cause of saving children with congenital heart diseases (CHD),  one hundred people took part in a fundraising golf tournament held at the Karachi Golf Club on Sunday, 29th January, 2017.  

One in every 100 children born in Pakistan (around 60,000 children) suffer from cardiovascular disease. Majority of these are not diagnosed correctly at the right time and lead to death.  

According to international statistics, 8 -10 births for every 1,000 births babies suffer from congenital heart disease. In Pakistan, a large section of the population belongs to rural areas which do not have adequate health facilities. Due to this, the exact prevalence of CHD at birth cannot be estimated.     

Dr. Muneer Amanullah, an associate Professor of Cardiothoracic surgery and interim Associate Dean of Postgraduate Medical Education at AKU, noted that Pakistan along with China, India and Indonesia are responsible for 50 per cent of CHD births in the world.

 “About 15,000 to 20,000 infants have critical problems and require surgery or intervention in the first year of life,” he said.

Dr. Amanullah spoke to the attendees of the golf tournament about the various issues related to CHD births. He said that hearts defects such as malformed parts of the heart or hole in the heart could prove to be fatal and cause a permanent disability. He went on to say that the cause of CHD was not always genetic; rather, environmental, infectious and nutritional factors could also be a contributing factor to the disease. Dr. Amanullah stated that most cases of the disease were diagnosed quite late in the child’s life, causing complications and increasing the risk of mortality. He emphasized that timely diagnosis vastly improves chances of survival and these children could go on to lead healthy and fulfilling’s lives.   

Mr. Hans Kedzierski, CEO of the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, thanked the donors, sponsors, volunteers and supporters of the event and cited the Hospital as a center of help and hope for patients of congenital heart diseases.