Children are gift of the God  What is a home without a child Children are one third of our population and all of our future  Children are equal to the God  Should these children with Congenital Heart Diseases die just because their parents are poor and don t have money to treat them for their heart ailments  Hundreds and thousands of children are dying each year in India due to Congenital Heart Diseases  CHD  without treatment  Not any more
In a society  where commercial interest scores over societal interest  one NGO has been making a difference  Setup in 2005 by corporate leaders  medical professionals  businessmen  donors and other professionals in India and USA   Hrudaya Cure A Little Heart Foundation   a Hyderabad based NGO committed for the cause of children with congenital heart problems as well as acquired heart problems has been doing a yeoman job  The tragedy of children dying of birth defects of heart  while running from pillar to post for treatment hardened the resolve of a group of these like minded individuals
Hrudaya means heart  It hopes to light a little flame in your heart  Just in a span of six years  it has successfully facilitated the treatment of 1240 Free Heart Surgeries in various hospitals for CHD affected poor children  which not many NGOs can boast of  The managing trustees of the Foundation are comprised of Mr  M  Yugandhar  Managing Director  Karvy Group  Dr  Gopichand  Managing Director of Star Hospitals  Dr  Rajagopal Raju Alluri  Director  Care Hospitals and Mr  P  Jairaj Kumar  Chairman and Managing Director of Ocean Sparkle Ltd
The mission of the Foundation is to treat poor children with heart diseases and give them a fighting chance to live normal and healthy lives  To educate masses  to bring together healthcare professionals to deal with the problem and to build necessary infrastructure to sustain these efforts on a long term basis
In the year 2010 2011  a total of 422 cases were treated wherein Hrudaya Foundation contributed Rs 1 46 56 462    Star Hospitals contributed Rs 1 43 72 397   towards the surgery expenses of children  In previous year between April  2009 to March 2010 237 cases were supported in which Hrudaya Foundation s contribution was Rs 84 75 344   and STAR Hospital s Rs 50 53 891 
A lot of patients are suffering  says Dr  Gopichand Mannam  Chief Cardio Thoracic Surgeon  crusader of the cause  the founder and Trustee of the Hrudaya Foundation  We are ready to provide our service but we need more money to take it forward  The cause is closest to my heart  I can t imagine children dying just because their parents cannot afford to give them the treatment they require  he laments
There is a lot of scope to raise funds  There are many philanthropic individuals amongst us  We haven t yet tapped corporates  We would like to go little aggressive henceforth and would like to perform up to 700 more surgeries free of cost in next 12 months  declared Dr  Gopichand
What started as a small idea inconsequence to an event in the year 2005 where about 1000 desperately poor children with heart diseases were paraded in Hyderabad seeking help triggered into what it is today  To mark the momentous occasion of performing 1240 free heart surgeries  celebrate its achievement  a function is being organised at Star Hospital premises on 9th September  His Excellency Governor of Andhra Pradesh Sri E S L  Narasimhan consented to grace the function  He will interact with about 50 children  trustees of the foundation and specialist team of International Children s Heart Foundation  ICHF 
A team of specialists of International Children s Heart Foundation  ICHF  headed by Dr  William Novick  M D  its Founder and Medical Director will be in Hyderabad on the occasion  ICHF has performed heart surgeries on children all over the world over the past 15 years  They visited six times to the Star Hospitals since 2009 and along with Star team conducted complicated surgeries in association with Hrudaya Foundation on children with Cardiac defects
On 9th September  ICHF will present an interactive session on how it has helped in innovative cost effective techniques in Pediatric Cardiac surgery with technology transfer to the medical professionals at Star Hospitals  stated Dr  Gopichand
A Fund Raising Dinner is also scheduled at Hotel Daspalla on 9th September evening  The dinner is organised with a theme  Children are our Future  Let us try and give them a life  Give them a future   Where Hrudaya Foundation will provide an opportunity for its guests to know of its past  present and future plans  how they can get associated with it and will also provide a glimpse of how their contributions have and will help in furthering the cause of the foundation informed Mr  Yungandhar  Managing Trustee of Hrudaya Foundation and Managing Director of Karvy Group
India has a large population  With a incidence of congenital heart disease in 8 per 1000 live births in children  nearly two lakh kids are born yearly with this problem adding to the existing millions suffering from the disease  Of these 60 000 to 90 000 are critical and need early treatment  Nearly 10% of the infant mortality seen is due to congenital heart defects  Sadly  on an average only 6000 to 8000 of the two lakh affected children receive treatment  Nearly 80 percent of the infants die due to their parent s inability to afford treatment  Each year about 1 21 000 cases of CHD do not even reach the age of 15 years due to lack of health awareness  poverty and inadequate healthcare facilities in India  An estimated 7 000 children with complex heart problems are waiting for surgery in Andhra Pradesh alone  added Dr  Rajagopal Raju Alluri  another trustee of the Foundation and Director of Care Hospitals
Globally nearly 2500 children die of CHD problems  500 die in India each day – web source
The number of centers capable of handling this is very few  At present there are just 14 institutions supporting a comprehensive infrastructure for newborn and infant heart surgery in India  All of these institutions have a busy adult cardiac surgery programs and much of the infrastructure is shared by both the adult and paediatric cardiac services  The total number of cardiac surgeries for CHD at all age groups in all centres combined in India approximates 6500 per year  of these only about one fourth are in neonates and infants  This would account for less than 2% of the affected population of newborns and infants in India
A huge number of children are added to this pool each year with many of them  who might have lived a near normal life  dying  due to unavailability of treatment to them  This  coupled with economic constraints  leaves only a small fraction that has access for appropriate treatment
How congenital heart diseases develop? In most cases it is not known  Rarely  a viral infection in the mother during first few months of pregnancy may develop a serious heart problem  Heredity factors could be a problem some times  More than one child in the family may have congenital heart defect  but  it is very rare  Down s syndrome  drugs consumed during early pregnancy  alcohol consumption can also affect the heart
The possible pointers to heart disease in infants  less than one year age  include Difficulty in feeding  unusual sweating  difficulty in breathing  Blueness of lips  fingers and toes  Poor growth and frequent episodes of chest infection  It can also be identified during a routine check up by your paediatrician without any prior symptoms
The Hrudaya Foundation s mission is to help poor children with congenital and acquired heart diseases  access modern medical care  Since its inception  the foundation has been doing noble service of helping poor children lead a healthy life free of any heart problems  commented Mr  P  Jairaj Kumar  another trustee and Chairman and Managing Director of Ocean Sparkle Ltd
 Children are the world s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future   They sweeten our labour  But they are also the most neglected lot due to poverty and many other reasons  The country which boast of over 1 5 lakh Millionaires also has dubious distinction of millions of children suffering with congenital and many other ailments  Together we can make a difference  If each of these millionaires come forward along with many philanthropic individuals we will help prevent and eradicate heart diseases in children
Even many voluntary organisations with global reach like Lions  Rotary  Jaycees  Freemasons  Round Tablers should come forward to help  Rotary India Humanity Foundation of Rotary International  for instance recently launched a program titled  Saving Little Hearts  under its health vertical  It has formulated the program to ease the suffering and give the  Gift of Life  to children suffering from congenital heart diseases  It has allocated Rs 75 crores for the program and committed to do at least 5000 heart surgeries over the next three years
Dr  Gopichand reiterated the need for greater focus on this ever increasing and enormous disease burden and said   Congenital heart disease is a growing and a neglected problem in India  Due to lack of facilities  money or awareness  CHD patients in India often live and die untreated  This is extremely ironical considering that all forms of CHD are completely treatable by surgery and medication  after which a child can look forward to a normal life  We need the community action to rid our country of the curse of Congenital Heart Disease 
It is a necessity  If we don t protect the children today  mankind will suffer tomorrow  The important thing is to act  and act now! A real community participation is required  Only then we can get rid of the disease  Socially conscious individuals and communities should come together in this endeavour  Support to the cause can come in various ways  and a case to point is the contribution of Pragati Printers  the leading printing house in the country  which designed   printed the brochures for the Hrudaya s recent fund mobilization drive
Likewise groups  individuals  corporates can come forward to donate liberally in cash  kind and services  The charities can be sent to Hrudaya Cure A Little Heart Foundation
TO CONTRIBUTE
Online payment Cash Cheque   Money Order to be drawn in favour of  Hrudaya Cure A Little Heart Foundation 
You can pay cash at Hrudaya Cure A Little Heart Foundation office and collect receipt of payment