Chennai : Heart transplant is a life saving procedure. Tamil Nadu leads the COUNTRY in organ donation because of the excellent initiatives of the Government of Tamil Nadu. However, affordability of the operation is always a problem due to the costs involved.

 

Aishwarya Trust, one of the leading NGOs dedicated to the cause of helping children with Congenital Heart Disease  has been of immense help in saving underprivileged children who need a heart transplant with funding for the process . The trust has helped 55 children from across the country undergo a heart transplant in Fortis Malar Hospital, Chennai. A few deserving children from war torn countries have also benefited from the trust. The trust has not only funded the heart transplant procedure but also postoperative immunosuppression medications and late follow up procedures like cardiac biopsies. This is the largest amount of funding from any trust in this country towards heart transplantation in children. A few adults have also received aid.  Fortis Malar is the leading heart transplant centre in India and has done close to 300 heart transplants of which, around 85 are children. The outcomes are excellent in children with 85% survival 5 years post transplant.

 

Talking about the initiative, Ms. Chitra Viswanathan, Trustee of Aishwarya Trust said, “Every year thousands of children are born with severe congenital heart defects in India. We aim to bring down the infant mortality rate through screening and early detection. Aishwarya Trust started supporting the transplant programme from 2014 and we are proud to be a part of the transplant programme along with Dr K R Balakrishnan, Dr Suresh Rao and the Fortis Malar transplant team. Due to the high cost of transplant, it is a big challenge for us to raise money. Happily some big corporate like HDFC LTD through their foundation HT Parekh Foundation and Deutsche Bank and some generous individuals support the transplant program. We would appreciate more companies and individuals to support us and we look forward to help many more children in the coming years”.

Dr. K R Balakrishnan, Trustee, Aishwarya Trust and Director – Cardiac Sciences and Chief Cardiothoracic & Transplant Surgeon, Fortis Malar Hospital said, “There are a lot of underprivileged children who require cardiac surgery and Rehabilitation .Aishwarya trust under the leadership of  Ms. Chitra Viswanathan is doing a great  service to humanity by helping these children . It is also important to spread awareness among people on CHD and support children with severe heart ailments. With new technology coming up  every day in the field of medical care , it is important to make this accessible to common man at the need of the hour. Aishwarya Trust has helped hundreds of children and will continue to create more awareness on this. Glad that Fortis Malar is a part of this great service and I wish Aishwarya Trust all the very best”.

Additionally, Aishwarya Trust runs a comprehensive program of screening, diagnosis, treatment and surgery for children/ young adults suffering from End Stage Cardio Myopathy. Apart from screening and funding surgeries, the trust also helps with blood tests, biopsy, Angiogram, scans and medical management. Children who have undergone transplants also need pre-transplant work up which is supported by Aishwarya Trust so that children are made ready for the entire procedure. In some cases, the trust also provides immunosuppressant and medicines post the transplant procedure up to a year.