Cabinet has approved financing to the value of $9.4M or the equivalent of US$44,750 for a team from the International Children’s Heart Foundation (Baby Heart) to perform cardiac operations on 18 children and provide technical support to the Paediatric Surgical Cardiac Programme at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, according to a release from the Ministry of the Presidency.
The team is expected to visit Guyana from June 18 to July 2.
Previously, the Government had approved a subsidy of about US$5,000 for each cardiac intervention to be done overseas. However, in order to reduce the cost, the Ministry of Public Health through Minister, Dr. George Norton, had sought international support to have the surgeries done locally.
The International Children’s Heart Foundation, also known as Baby Heart, is a medical charity that assembles volunteer medical teams from around the world. The group had indicated its willingness to provide support for the fifth time to Guyana in the area of paediatric cardiology.
