Some 12 000 children born with heart defects annually
Nelson
Mandela Children's Hospital heart surgeon Krubin Naidoo says more than 12 000
children in South Africa are born with heart defects every year.
Annually about 12 000 kids are born with congenital heart disease - less than quarter will receive the treatment required
"It is a terrible statistic. If you look at the old spectrum more than 85% of congenital heart can be conditions can be corrected which means those kids can live normal productive lives."
#GMAHeartsOfHope #MandelaDay2019 @JacaBreakfast's Martin Bester says they've managed to secure funding for 30 heart procedures at the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital. pic.twitter.com/bDfVU6YMx5
— Jacaranda News (@JacaNews) July 18, 2019
Naidoo says it's a race against time as the condition of patients deteriorate rapidly.
"Because of the delays a lot of them will have advance disease, a lot of them will have placed a considerable burden on the health system by being in and out of hospital, requiring admissions and medication for their condition while waiting for procedure but unfortunately some will die."
Jacaranda FM's Good Morning Angels visited the hospital in Johannesburg earlier today.
The charitable division aimed to raise enough funds to enable the hospital to mend at least 10 children's hearts. A heart operation comes at a price tag of at east R40 000.