Project Heart: Uganda
Problem
In Uganda, as with many other places in eastern Africa and around the world, children suffer from correctable heart defects. These cardiac problems, like holes in their heart chambers, limit the ability of children to play and interact normally with other children, and ultimately cut short their lives.
In many places around the globe, the only way to address these debilitating cardiac concerns is through expensive, and highly risky open-heart surgeries, or by flying children to the U.S. or Europe for treatment. So, the overwhelming majority of childhood diseases go unaddressed in places like Uganda.
WCI’s Solution
WCI was able to implement its core-mission of “training to independence”, by teaching and empowering local medical personnel.
We decided to bring a non-invasive procedure – cardiac catheterization – to Uganda, training local doctors and medical personnel to be able to fix children’s hearts without surgery, or the need for patients to travel outside of the country and continent. Using the Uganda Heart Institute in Kampala as the focal point, WCI:
Helped build a cardiac catheterization lab at UHI
Taught doctors, nurses, and technicians on yearly “clinical training” trips, focused on educating local medical personnel
Created a mentorship relationship with the local surgeon and surgeon in the United States for consistent follow-up and guidance
Sponsored training fellowship to India so that Ugandan heart doctors could receive intensive training from recognized global experts
Helped UHI administrators develop supply-chain and logistical systems to ensure materials and supplies for children’s heart procedures
Cemented an agreement with the Ugandan Ministry of Health to support and fund UHI’s children’s heart program
Impact
In 2010, UHI doctors did not have the equipment, facilities, or training to serve the ---children born yearly in Uganda with heart defects.
In 2019, UHI doctors now routinely save the lives of over 100
children a year through cardiac catheterization, without the assistance of foreign medical teams.
Doctors from UHI have now produced scholarly papers and presented at international conferences on their work with children’s heart disease.
With the training, facilities, supply-chain improvement, and locked-in support from the Ministry of Health, local doctors can now help local children live longer and play harder for generations to come
UHI Independent Cases from
2012 - Present
References
The Uganda Heart Association.
Lwabi P, Namuyonga J, Lubega S, Oketcho M, Mwambu T, Sebatta E, Okello E, Omagino J, Sliwa K. Eur Heart J. 2019 Aug 1;40(29):2396-2397. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehz472. PMID: 31539909
Congenital Heart Disease in East Africa.
Jivanji SGM, Lubega S, Reel B, Qureshi SA. Front Pediatr. 2019 Jun 26;7:250. doi: 10.3389/fped.2019.00250. eCollection 2019.PMID: 31294003
Free online: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6606724/
Pediatric Cardiovascular Care in Uganda: Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities for the Future.
Aliku TO, Lubega S, Namuyonga J, Mwambu T, Oketcho M, Omagino JO, Sable C, Lwabi P. Ann Pediatr Cardiol. 2017 Jan-Apr;10(1):50-57. doi: 10.4103/0974-2069.197069.PMID: 28163428
Free online: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5241845/