Joseph Cunningham, Gleaner Writer

Between 70 and 80 per cent of Caribbean children born with congenital heart defects, die because of the scarcity of medical professionals in the region, says Dr. Jeff Jacobs, heart surgeon at Congenital Heart Institute in Florida, U.S.A. The contrast is very significant for developed countries, with an over 98 per cent survival rate for children with heart defects, he added.

Dr. Jacobs leads a team of 13 medical professional volunteers who give of their time and talent to help children in Third World Caribbean countries who are born with congenital heart defects.

Familiarisation

The Jamaican national and his team were in the island last Thursday, and paid a two-day visit to the Bustamante Hospital for Children. The team, 'Caribbean Heartmenders', visited the hospital to sensitise themselves with conditions there, said Beverly Needham, chief executive officer at the hospital.

"They will return in March of next year, when they will perform 10 open heart surgeries," she said.

She continued that: "We are anticipating the assistance from Dr. Jacobs and his team because it will go a far way in clearing the long waiting list of patients. Currently, we are only able to perform one open-heart surgery per week because of the scarcity of local medical professionals".

The association of volunteers first came to the Caribbean in 1994, and since then 220 children have benefited from heart surgeries.

Caribbean Heartmenders is a non-profit organisation comprising surgeons, paediatric cardiologists, paediatric anaesthesiologists, intensive care unit (ICU) nurses, and operating nurses.