Photo by Scott Streble

We’re happy to announce that three medical professionals, from Uganda, Haiti and Nepal, were selected to receive the Children’s HeartLink Fellowship in Pediatric Cardiac Services for professionals from low- and middle-income countries. They will receive training at two of our Centers of Excellence: Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Kochi, India, and Institut Jantung Negara in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“The coronavirus pandemic is delaying its start this year, but Children’s HeartLink and our Centers of Excellence are looking forward to the start of training as soon as that is possible,” says Children’s HeartLink Vice President of Global Strategy and Advocacy Bistra Zheleva.

This is the second year the fellowship is being offered. Dr. Othin Moses from Uganda Heart Institute was selected for the fellowship in pediatric intensive care. Dr. Naika Chalceux from Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais in Haiti will receive training in pediatric cardiology. Dr. Prabhat Khakural from Manmohan Cardiothoracic Vascular and Transplant Center in Nepal will attend the pediatric cardiac surgery training program. The training will be split evenly between the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Institut Jantung Negara.

“This year we received 13 applications from around the world. We judged the applications based, first, on candidates’ institutional support and, next, their qualifications. On one hand, it’s heartening to see how many people have applied but on the other hand, it continues to show the need for more such training centers. Also, this fellowship program shows that our Centers of Excellence can provide high-quality training,” says Zheleva.

Children’s HeartLink now works in five countries: Brazil, China, India, Malaysia and Vietnam. We focus on training in-country medical providers. The training is done in partnerships with top medical volunteer teams from the US, Canada and the UK. Last year alone, 4,000 medical providers were trained and went on to serve 171,000 children. We invest in long-term partnerships to build centers of excellence in pediatric cardiac care – our partner hospitals become training centers. Our goal is to develop 35 Children’s HeartLink Centers of Excellence by 2030. 

In our 50 years, we have helped over one million children with heart disease. A staggering 90% of children born with a heart defect worldwide still lack access to care. In the next 10 years, Children’s HeartLink is committed to reaching one million more children.