68,000,000 people now have access to the miracle of modern heart care for their children, for the first time, thanks to Heart to Heart medical volunteers.
7,000 children have already been saved by Heart to Heart-trained colleagues at our first three pediatric heart centers.
Why do we exist?
Heart to Heart was founded to save babies by teaching doctors abroad the art and science of open-heart surgery for children. Our current focus is giving children in the heartland of Rus- sia access to the miracle of modern heart care.BACKGROUND:
Curing childhood heart disease
in the U.S.
In the 1940s, a number of American physicians dared to question the prevailing wisdom that it was impossible to operate on a live human heart. Their courage, perseverance, and skill led to miraculous breakthroughs. Between the 1940s and the late 1970s, pediatric cardiac specialists in the United States developed the first successful surgical procedures on the live human heart. Millions of American babies with congenital heart defects – the most common birth defect in the world, also known as con-genital heart disease – were no longer destined to suffer and die.Today, over 95% of children born with heart disease in the U.S. are successfully treated and grow up to lead normal lives.
THE FOUNDING OF
HEART TO HEART:
Curing childhood heart disease
in Russia
While breakthrough advances were benefiting children in the U.S., Soviet physicians were completely isolated from Western medicine, and remained unable to treat Russian children born with heart disease.Heart to Heart is an independent non-profit organization founded in 1989 to teach phy- sicians in St. Petersburg {then Leningrad, USSR} how to perform open-heart surgery on children. The break-up of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War literally opened the door for Heart to Heart to expand its teaching to other regions of Russia, giving millions more children access to modern heart care.
TODAY
Heart to Heart's focus since 1989 has been teaching throughout Russia. In 2009, we will celebrate 20 years of surgical-educational missions to that country and the 7,000 children whose lives have been saved by our Russian colleagues. Heart to Heart-sponsored sites have already given access to modern heart care for children to the 68 million people living in three of Russia's seven vast districts.The results of Heart to Heart's work confirm the replicability of our program model. We have begun to expand our thinking to see how this program model can be applied to other areas of need elsewhere in the world.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens could change the world.
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
committed citizens could change the world.
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
-Margaret Mead
Every minute of every day, somewhere in the world, two babies are born with congenital heart disease – the most common of all birth defects. Treated early enough, it is almost 100% curable. Unfortunately, nearly 90% of the world's children do not have access to the miracle of modern heart care.
Our Beginning
The idea for Heart to Heart was born in Oakland, California, in 1989, from a single surgery performed pro bono on a Soviet child whose heart defect could not be repaired in her own country. Seeing an opportunity to multiply this good deed exponentially, heart surgeon Dr. Nilas Young and several colleagues developed a program model to train teams in the Soviet Union to diagnose and operate on children there.Our Vision
A child born with heart complications – anywhere in the world – will have access to compassionate modern heart care.Our Mission
Heart to Heart medical teams train physicians abroad in advanced cardiology and cardiac surgery. We apply our seven-year educational model at regional sites selected to serve enormous populations. Our work culminates in self-sustaining children's heart centers giving millions of families access – for the first time – to the miracle of modern heart care.We are grateful for the support of several long-term partners whose trust and generosity have fueled our continued progress.
