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More centres needed in Middle East to conduct surgeries for CHD in babies

DUBAI — The Middle East and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) need more centres to perform corrective surgeries on at least 10-20 per cent of the 700,000 children born with congenital heart disease (CHD), according to an expert.

"Every year, almost 700,000 children with heart defects are born in South Asia and the Middle East, but only 15,000 undergo corrective surgery, that is 1 in 30," said Dr Muneer Amanullah, Consultant Paediatric Cardiac Surgeon, Aga Khan University, Karachi.

He was addressing a gathering of physicians and surgeons at the Continuing Medical Education programme at Al Qassimi Hospital in Sharjah recently, organised by the university in collaboration with the UAE Ministry of Health.

Adding that there were no accurate statistics on the disease for the UAE, Dr Amanullah said the UAE could have 500 children born with any type of CHD every year, according to data from a 2001 report issued by the European Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons. "But, only 150 can be treated in the available facilities here," he said, adding that currently the country's healthcare centres care for only about a quarter of children with various types of CHD.

He said of the seven member countries of SAARC, only three offer corrective cardiac surgery and only a few centres in these countries have facilities that can help newborns and infants.

"Of the four Middle Eastern states, neighbouring the SAARC countries, Saudi Arabia is the largest centre for congenital cardiac surgery," he said. "Indian institutions perform approximately 9,000 to 12,000 pediatric surgeries per year, followed by Saudi Arabia with close to 1,500 and Pakistan with almost 900 surgeries. Another 1,500 surgeries take place in the rest of the region, making a grand total of 13,000 to 15,000 surgeries per year. What happens to the remaining 685,000 children each year?" he asked.

"Ideally, one paediatric cardiac surgical centre should serve a population of five million. There is no centre in Bangladesh with a population of 100 million and even in the Middle East, apart from Saudi Arabia and the UAE," he explained.

Currently, Mafraq Hospital in Abu Dhabi is the only government hospital that conducts the high-risk invasive cardiac treatment for children. Though some of the private hospitals have begun offering advanced cardiac treatment services, most of them do not operate on newborn babies suffering from CHD.

He also said that usually about 30 per cent of CHD cases have genetic or chromosomal associated reasons. "Congenital heart problems are more in this region because of the high prevalence of consanguineous marriages and the ensuing five per cent higher risk of having children with congenital heart disorders," he pointed out.