UAE 'Golden Heart' campaign saves 50 children globally

A global health initiative by the founder and chairman of the UAE's Burjeel Holdings has given free life-saving surgery to 50 children with congenital heart diseases.

The Golden Heart Initiative, launched on January 1 by Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil, focused on children from conflict zones such as Senegal, Libya, and Tunisia, and underprivileged families from Egypt and India.

During its three month campaign, surgeries were performed at public and private hospitals in Tunisia, Egypt, and India. 

Children aged two months and upward with complex congenital heart diseases such as severe aortic stenosis, a condition where the aortic valve narrows disrupting the normal flow of blood; Tetralogy of Fallot, a condition that affects normal blood flow through the heart; and atrioventricular (AV) canal defect, where a hole in the wall separates the heart’s chambers causing problems with the heart valves, were some of the Initiative’s recipients.

Commenting on the project, Dr. Tarig Ali Elhassan, a renowned cardiac surgeon who headed the medical assessment board of the Initiative, said, “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.”

On the impact of the programme, Dr. Shamsheer said, “Executing this mission was not an easy task...our doctors and other staff worked towards the healing of these little ones. The Initiative would not have succeeded without their hard work and the families that trusted us."