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The historic agreements initiated by Israel based non-profit organization Save a Child’s Heart, will provide lifesaving medical care to thousands of children in Sub-Saharan Africa suffering from congenital heart defects while facilitating sharing of medical skills and knowledge among medical centers within the three countries
For the first time in history, the Zambian National Heart Hospital (NHH) and the Rwanda King Faisal Hospital (KFH) have signed trendsetting agreements with Tanzania’s Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI) in a ceremony held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The historic agreements are the culmination of years of planning and investment by Save a Child’s Heart, an international humanitarian NGO based in Israel. This signifies an important milestone in enhancing future cooperation in pediatric cardiac care between Zambia, Rwanda, and the existing center in Tanzania.
The agreements were signed and witnessed by Dr. Seif Shekalaghe, Tanzania’s Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr. George Sinyangwe, Zambia’s Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, and Dr. Peter Kisenge, Director of the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute.
The signing was carried out in the presence of Save a Child’s Heart representatives from Israel.
Others present included Dr. Chabwela Shumba, Senior Medical Superintendent of the Zambia National Heart Hospital, and Dr. Frederic Ngirabacu, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda King Faisal Hospital.
The cooperation was made possible following a longstanding partnership between Save a Child’s Heart in Israel and the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute in Tanzania, which includes having treated more than 1,000 Tanzanian children for congenital heart conditions over the last 20 years, training 23 medical professionals in specialized pediatric cardiac care, equipment, and medical disposables donations, as well as continued support for the center’s activities.
Commenting Dr. Kesenge of the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute said: “I am very enthusiastic about the collaborations that the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute will establish with the National Heart of Zambia through its Ministry of Health and King Faisal Hospital in Rwanda. This is a very big step in strengthening the delivery of quality cardiac services in Africa.”
Today the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute in Tanzania independently performs hundreds of pediatric cardiac procedures, both surgeries and catheterizations, thanks to the knowledge and skills gained in Israel through the Save a Child’s Heart training programs and ongoing medical missions, sponsored by Save a Child’s Heart Canada. The signing of the new agreements now paves the way for knowledge transfers between the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute in Tanzania and the two medical centers in Zambia and Rwanda, with the assistance of Save a Child’s Heart (Israel), including training of the medical team members at JKCI, sending Tanzanian medical missions to Zambia and to Rwanda and the support of new teams on the ground.
Save a Child’s Heart (Israel) is currently training in Israel the first Pediatric Cardiac team of Zambian medical professionals, among them Zambia’s first specialist pediatric cardiac surgeon, who recently returned home after completing four and a half years of training in Israel, and leads the program at the Zambia National Heart Hospital. This week a team of three physicians from the King Faisal Hospital in Kigali will arrive in Israel to start their training in Pediatric Cardiology, Pediatric Intensive Care and Anesthesia.
Dr. Lior Sasson, Save a Child’s Heart lead surgeon, said: “I am extremely proud to witness the lifesaving activity taking place here at the JKCI carried out by my Mentee Dr. Godwin Godfrey who is the first Pediatric Cardiac surgeon of Tanzania. I look forward to working with Dr Ziwa, Zambia’s first Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon trained in Israel, to build a pediatric cardiac center of excellence at the NHH, and today starts the training in Israel of the first Pediatric Cardiac Team from Rwanda”.
Simon Fisher, Executive Director of Save a Child’s Heart, said: “Save a Child’s Heart is excited to witness the signing of the two MOUs representing the expansion of its activities throughout the African continent based on South-South partnership and cooperation.
He added, “Now that JKCI has become a center of excellence for Sub Sahara Africa our capacity building activities have potentially doubled taking place in two centers; Save a Child’s Heart in Israel and JKCI in Tanzania.”