Abu Dhabi: The Golden Heart Initiative has concluded, providing 50 children with complex congenital heart diseases with free life-saving heart surgeries. The Initiative crossed cultural and geographic boundaries to focus on children from disadvantaged homes and conflict zones.
Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil, a healthcare visionary and the founder and chairman of Burjeel Holdings launched the global philanthropic mission known as the Golden Heart Initiative on January 1, 2024.
The procedures, which were led by specialists, were carried out in Tunisia, Egypt, and India at both public and private facilities. The Initiative, which ended after three months, benefited children from poor households in Egypt and India as well as children from conflict areas including Senegal, Libya, and Tunisia. Getting the kids from the war zones to the hospitals for their urgent procedures was difficult because of the strong travel restrictions.
To help these families, special travel authorizations had to be secured through several agencies. The Initiative worked with government agencies in India to provide expensive, life-saving procedures that are not covered by current programs.
The Initiative’s beneficiaries included children two months of age and older with complex congenital heart diseases like severe aortic stenosis, a condition in which the narrowing of the aortic valve interferes with normal blood flow; Tetralogy of Fallot, a condition that impairs normal blood flow through the heart; and atrioventricular (AV) canal defect, a condition in which a hole in the wall separates the heart’s chambers, causing problems with the heart valves.
Dr. Tarig Ali Elhassan, a renowned cardiac surgeon who headed the medical assessment board of the Initiative, stated that, “We feel proud to support these children in the time of their need with world-class treatment. After announcing the Initiative, we received numerous requests from different parts of the world. We thoroughly reviewed each medical record and shortlisted the candidates based on the severity of their condition and the guidelines of the Initiative. Later, we brought together global experts in the field to perform the surgeries. We also made arrangements to ease transportation challenges. Everything was done within three months, which we consider a great feat.”
The Golden Heart Initiative turned out to be a unique opportunity for these children to achieve their dreams of leading a fruitful life. Most of them were unable to undergo the surgery earlier due to several reasons such as high expense and lack of proper facilities.