Children's Heart Surgery Project Problem

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common birth defects worldwide. Without treatment, one third of the children with CHD will die before their first birthday. The situation in India is worse where 90 percent of these children have no access to the healthcare they need.

However, almost all of these children can be treated - typically with surgery - leading to many decades of productive life. A little money can save a lot of lives in India due to a combination of lower healthcare costs and high quality care available at specialty heart centers in larger cities.

Children's Heart Surgery Project Barriers

It is prohibitive for the vast majority of disadvantaged families to afford a heart surgery for their child. The primary wage earner in such families may be a daily laborer, rickshaw puller, fisherman or tea-stall owner, with family incomes in the range of only $8-15 a month.