The charitable action “Sertse, ne spy” (Keep a Good Heartbeat) has already collected 60,000 hryvnias for young cardiac patients. Its organizers, led by the musician Pavlo Hudymov, are planning to increase the sum to 90,000 dollars. They agree, however, that any amount of money represents precious help for ailing children.
Hudymov’s action garnered the support of 100,000 individuals across Ukraine. Its goal is to attract public attention to the problem of juvenile cardiac malfunctions and the tiny patients who suffer from these ailments. All the money collected to date will be spent on purchasing equipment for the juvenile surgery department of the Amosov Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery.
The charity organizer admitted that he had not expected such empathy from Ukrainians. “Now I know for sure that we are a very sympathetic nation. By joining our efforts, we will be able to do even more good things.” A single Web site number produced 1,300 SMS money transfers.
Statistics collected by the Amosov Cardiovascular Surgery Institute show that 61 percent of all child deaths are due to cardiovascular malfunctions, compared to 10 percent of cancer-related mortalities. Statistics for 2004 indicate six infants with congenital heart diseases were born per thousand newborns. Out of 3,000-3,500 infants, 1,400-1,500 are on critical lists. Quite often emergency operating rooms are in good working order, but owing to the lack of clinics and qualified personnel, operations are postponed and the consequences are fatal. Even though Ukraine has millions of people, we have only 18 cardiac surgery centers, with the most complicated surgeries taking place in Kyiv.
Complicated heart ailments are frequently encountered, but in most cases it is impossible to ascertain the causes. More often than not they are caused by infections, alcohol and drug abuse by expectant mothers, as well as genetics. The child mortality rate remains high. It is “caused by insufficient financing of cardiovascular surgery,” says Hennadiy Knyshov, director of the Amosov Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery.
“There is almost 100 percent wear and tear of diagnostic equipment, untimely and unqualified diagnoses on the part of district polyclinics, and parents’ lack of information about the complexity and risks of children’s heart diseases, which lead many to refuse timely surgeries or delay asking for professional advice until it’s too late. If these problems could be solved, our cardiac experts could save twice as many children with cardiovascular malfunctions,” says Dr. Knyshov.
