India
India is home to almost twenty percent of the global population and is often seen as a country of contrasts, like many developing countries. While major cities boast technological advancement and luxury, there is also a great deal of poverty and inequality.
Since 1999, Children's HeartLink has been commited to the advancement of pediatric cardiac services in India. Children's HeartLink has partnered with hospitals in four cities - Bangalore, Kochi, Hyderabad and Chandigarh.
Bangalore
Since its establishment in 2002, Children's HeartLink has supported the goals of Dr. Devi Shetty and his team at the Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital in Bangalore to bring quality cardiac services to the children of the state of Karnataka and from all over India. The Narayana Hospital in Bangalore has become one of the centers of excellence for cardiac services in India. Where in the past Children's HeartLink has sent teams to work with Dr. Shetty's program, now Children's HeartLink supports very focused needs such as a teleconferencing program with the Mayo Clinic to improve cardiac nursing and funding and critical supplies for their charity patient commitment. Narayana Hospital is also considered a good training site for cardiac team members from other Children's HeartLink partner sites.
In support of Children's HeartLink's commitment to the prevention of heart disease, a project on rheumatic fever prevention in the state of Karnataka has been undertaken. In collaboration with the Department of Community Health of St. John's Medical College in Bangalore, and Dr. Edward Kaplan, a world authority on streptococcal diseases at the University of Minnesota, Children's HeartLink has supported the implementation of a pilot prevention program in both urban and rural village locations.
Kochi
Children's HeartLink has supported Amrita Institute of Sciences (AIMS), a rapidly developing center of excellence in southwestern India since 2000. With its strong commitment to charity services, education, prevention and applied research, AIMS has been a good partner to work with. Children's HeartLink recent support has included off-site education, infection control consulting, charity patient support, consultation on post operative care of cardiac patients which also has involved an annual seminar on post operative issues for physicians from around southern India. Children's HeartLink has also supported a study to develop and test strategies for screening for congenital heart disease among newborns in underserved regions.
Hyderabad
Children's HeartLink's partners with Innova Children's Heart Hospital. The hospital was the first heart hospital in India exclusively dedicated to children. In its first year the center performed about 700 open heart operations and 800 interventional catheterization procedures. In July 2008, a team from Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital led by Mohan Reddy. M.D., pediatric cardiac surgeon, traveled on an assessment visit to Innova, and medical volunteers from Packard Children's have made several cardiac training visits since then.
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