Surgeons praised
FIJI is presenting a higher than average incidence of congenital heart disease, says Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Hospital Fiji director Dr Krupali Tappoo.
She said they had identified this through outreach visits to rural and maritime regions by the specialists and said it was “worrying” and needed to be addressed on various levels by all stakeholders.
Dr Tappoo said this as she lauded the efforts of a 20-member team of surgeons, doctors and specialists from the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospital, Mumbai, who gave nine Fijian children the “gift of life” by conducting free-of-charge surgeries at the state-of-the-art Nasese complex.
She said the hospital was privileged to host the team from their sister hospital in India.
“We are incredibly grateful to pediatric cardiac surgeon Dr Shyamadeep Borgohain and his entire team for sacrificing their time to come to Fiji to operate on our children and Fiji is so blessed to have such an experienced and skilled team here,” she said.
“Their two-week visit will save the lives of many children who otherwise have no other means of treatment.”
Since its official opening in April 2022, the hospital has saved the lives of 81 children and conducted thousands of echocardiograms, free of cost, Dr Tappoo said.
“We are committed to saving the lives of the children of Fiji and the Pacific and we invite everyone to join us in ensuring that our future generations are given the gift of life that they deserve.”
Pediatric cardiac surgeon Dr Shyamadeep Borgohain said they were happy to be in Fiji and to be saving the lives of children.
“To give these children normal lives is a privilege,” he said.
“I would like to thank my team and everyone who contributed to the success of this mission.”