Seventeen children with congenital heart defects are to undergo specialised surgery in Guyana between September 28 and October 2 under a government-funded mission involving a medical team from India’s Apollo Hospitals, President Irfaan Ali announced yesterday.
Another ten children are expected to benefit from a second mission in December, while the government is aiming to eliminate the remaining backlog by the first quarter of 2027.
Ali made the announcement during a meeting at State House with the parents of children awaiting surgery. He said approximately 40 children were currently on the waiting list for specialised congenital cardiac procedures.
The President said the government decided to bring the specialists to Guyana because sending children overseas placed a considerable financial and emotional burden on their families. Parents also encountered difficulties travelling and obtaining visas, he added.
“In a couple of days from now, September 28, seventeen children will receive world-class specialised cardiac surgeries right here in Guyana,” Ali told the gathering.
He said the overseas team would work alongside local healthcare professionals during the five-day mission.
“This is something that is painful for parents, painful for relatives [and] painful for the medical team when these interventions are needed and you’re not in a position to deliver the intervention that is required,” he said.
Ali described the children as “our babies” and said the programme was intended to give them the opportunity for healthy and productive lives.
“We are making this investment because we care,” he said.
The government will provide transportation for all 17 children and accommodation for those travelling from outside Georgetown. Ali said the support would ensure that the location of a family or its financial circumstances did not prevent a child from accessing the operation.
Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony said some of the children had conditions that were too complex for the medical teams which usually visit Guyana to conduct paediatric cardiac surgeries.
He said assessments conducted by cardiologists at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) found that some of the cases required additional specialists, more technical personnel and longer operating times.
Anthony said the government consequently approached Apollo Hospitals, which he described as an internationally recognised institution with extensive experience in complex cardiac procedures.
“Generally, people from around the world would travel to India to get those operations, but here it is, we are bringing an entire team to Guyana,” he said.
Local facilities
According to Anthony, the visiting specialists will use local facilities and work with Guyanese medical personnel. Having the operations performed here would also allow parents and children to remain close to their relatives and wider support systems, he said.
“If you travel abroad, it might just be one parent with that child, and sometimes that can be very difficult,” the minister noted.
Anthony said the Apollo team would arrive ahead of the mission and begin operating on September 28. He added that the government had previously signed a memorandum of understanding with the hospital group, which has also provided training for Guyanese doctors.
The relationship is expected to continue after the existing list is cleared so that any new cases can be addressed, he said.
During the meeting, a GPHC official said the hospital usually facilitates between two and three paediatric cardiac missions annually, at a cost approaching US$1 million.
The upcoming mission will involve more complex cases than are normally treated during visiting missions, the official said, adding that some of the children were expected to require longer hospital stays.
The Indian team will travel with equipment and medical consumables, but the official said investments over the years had also strengthened the hospital’s local capacity. Approval had recently been given for the acquisition of two ventilators at a cost of approximately $15 million to support the programme.
The official warned that prolonged waiting periods could result in some children’s conditions deteriorating to the point where they might no longer be suitable candidates for surgery.
“This is a very timely intervention,” he said, while assuring parents of children not included in the September mission that their cases would also be addressed.
It was also announced that the GPHC intends to clear its backlog of children awaiting echocardiograms by the end of October. Under an initiative described as “Operation Echoes”, teams from Northwell Health in New York and Calgary, Canada, comprising approximately five cardiologists and five sonographers, are expected to work alongside local personnel.
A senior nursing official sought to reassure the parents that nurses and other members of the technical team would provide round-the-clock care during the cardiac mission.
“As a mom myself, I know how anxious and scared these parents are,” she said. “Please feel safe and comfortable that your children are in good hands.”
Discussion