Israeli team of cardiologists saves children’s lives in Zambia

An Israeli organization that provides free care to children in countries with limited access to medicine late last year treated Zambian children suffering from congenital heart disease.

Save a Child’s Heart (SACH) performed open heart surgery and catheterization procedures on 25 children with serious illnesses over four days. The mission, which took place in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, brought together an international team of doctors, including specialists from Israel’s Wolfson Medical Center, the Jakaya Kikwete Heart Institute in Tanzania and the National Heart Hospital of Zambia. SACH is also preparing to donate critical medical supplies and a portable echocardiograph that will be used in both the operating room and catheterization laboratory to help local medical teams continue to advance the successful mission.

The Israeli organization has been actively collaborating with the Zambian Ministry of Health since 2017, providing assistance to more than 100 children and training local doctors in modern methods of treating heart disease.

Save a Child’s Heart was founded in 1995 by Dr. Ami Cohen. Since then, Israeli doctors have been saving the lives of children with serious heart disease in countries where access to pediatric cardiac care is limited or non-existent. The organization brings children to Israel for treatment, conducts missions in other countries and trains local doctors.