The Hospital for Humanity, a U.S. based NGO, says it will conduct open heart surgery on not less than 200 Nigerian children by July.
Dr Ikenna Omeje, Lead Paediatric Cardiovascular Surgeon, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
Omeje said that the organisation has been working in the country for over two years.
However, he said that the move was to bring sustainable heart services to Nigerian children with congenital heart diseases.
He further noted that the organisation has so far conducted open heart surgery on 37 children outside the 200 billed for next month.
The surgeon explained that congenital heart disease are those diseases children are born with, adding that some of such diseases are correctable early in life while others are quite difficult and complex.
According to him, children with complex and difficult heart disease will require palliative care that could lead to heart transplant, among others.
He said that such palliative would involve treatment that will enable them live a normal life to a certain extent and later require another heart transplant.
Omeje appealed to philanthropists in Nigeria and the world over to channel resources for the procurement of needed equipment for the exercise.
He said that N1,000 from one million Nigerians could save the lives of 200 children.
“We have been working for about two years to bring sustainable heart services to Nigerian children with congenital heart disease; we are soliciting for help from well meaning Nigerians.
“We urge corporate bodies, among others, to sponsor the child surgery and save them from untimely death.
“The programme is open to all Nigerian children with congenital heart disease and we want people to come out and support the gesture because the service is very expensive.
“We are collaborating with the National Hospital, Abuja, and Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), among others, to provide such services.
“We are here to provide services that are not available in Nigeria and also to provide training for the Nigerian medical professionals to be able to provide such services on their own,’’ Omeje said.
According to him, the organisation is targeting more than 1,000 Nigerian children before the end of the year.
NAN reports that Hospitals for Humanity is founded in 2006 with the aim of decreasing healthcare barriers for people living in the least developed countries of the world.
It is also committed to providing access to quality and affordable healthcare for people who are in dire need, especially those living in developing and third-world countries.
This is done by organising medical missions, constructing modern hospitals and introducing current medical technology.
It strives toward building lasting infrastructure for carrying out sustained improvement in the global healthcare delivery system. (NAN)