CHD Awareness Month

I’d be grateful for the opportunity to let readers of TheAvondhu know that on Saturday, February 24, as part of Global Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) Awareness Month, Heart Children will host its annual ‘The Beat Goes On’ conference for young people and adults with CHD, along with families.

CHD is a general term to describe over 40 different conditions or problems with the heart’s structure that are present at birth. It affects one in every 100 babies born in Ireland each year, with approximately 500-600 children born here with the condition annually, half of whom will require open heart surgery. It is the most common birth defect in newborns worldwide.

We don’t know the cause of the disease in the vast majority of babies with the condition, however, thankfully, improvements in treatment and care mean that 90 per cent of children with CHD in Ireland are now surviving into adulthood.

The focus of the conference is on preparing young people with CHD to make the transition from child to adult support services. There will be three separate event programmes for young people with CHD, adults over 25 years with CHD, and families. Among the topics set to feature are how to manage your own continuing medical care, the dos and don’ts of being a teenager with CHD, and how to advocate for yourself as a person with a silent disability.

The conference, in conjunction with the Children’s Heart Centre, CHI Crumlin, and the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Unit, Mater Hospital, is free of charge and will take place in Chartered Accountants House, Pearse Street, Dublin 2, from 10 to 3pm.

To register for the conference, or to find out about the services and supports offered by Heart Children, visit www.heartchildren.ie or telephone 01 874 0990.

Yours sincerely, Sheila Campbell, Chief Executive, Heart Children, Carmichael Centre, North Brunswick Street, Dublin 7.