Global Reports

Children's HeartLink Releases Second Global Report on Pediatric Cardiac Disease

In 2005, Children's HeartLink published the first edition of what was envisioned to be a series of reports on the state of pediatric cardiac services in the developing world. The report, To Save a Child, gave an overview of congenital and acquired heart disease and the impact these diseases have on children in the developing world.

This May, Children's HeartLink published the second report, Linked by a Common Purpose, in which a more in-depth look at congenital heart disease is offered, and in particular, the factors that make its diagnosis and treatment so difficult outside of the developed world.

Linked by a Common Purpose, addresses the needs of children with heart disease in the developing world. In some of the latest thinking on pediatric heart disease and the challenges in addressing it in under-served regions of the world.

The first section of the report discusses factors in treatment and detection of congenital heart disease in the developing world. The second, is a shorter discussion on acquired heart disease in children, spotlighting two rheumatic heart disease prevention projects, one in India and one in the Pacific Island of Fiji and a Chagas disease prevention project in Ecuador.

Linked by a Common Purpose, discusses the relevance of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals to children's heart disease in the developing world, as well as on the effect the health worker migration crisis has on pediatric cardiac care in the developing world. The last section discusses the results from a web survey conducted to explore the views of practitioners in the field of pediatric cardiac care concerning the challenges in the successful treatment, detection and prevention of pediatric cardiac disease.

For the last 40 years, Children's HeartLink has been dedicated to the mobilization of global resources to prevent, treat and cure children's heart disease. We hope that this report contributes to the knowledge and understanding of pediatric heart disease and the efforts to offer greater access to its prevention and treatment in under-served regions of the world, said Bistra Zheleva, International Programs Coordinator, Children's HeartLink.

With this report, Children's HeartLink hopes to further the knowledge of the field and come closer to preventing and curing heart disease for all of the world's children.

To receive a copy of the full report and full list of references please click on the link below or contact bistra@childrenheartlink.org

2007 Children's HeartLink Global Report
2007 Children's HeartLink Global Report Executive Summary - Arabic
2007 Children's HeartLink Global Report Executive Summary - French
2007 Children's HeartLink Global Report Executive Summary - Chinese
2005 Children's HeartLink Study

 

 

Helpful Links



www.worldheart.org
The World Heart Federation's website for rheumatic heart disease is an international resource developed primarily for clinicians, health practitioners and policy-makers in countries where the disease is still common. Its purpose is to promote rheumatic heart disease control through the use of register-based secondary prevention of rheumatic fever.