Followup Study on Showcases Significant Disparity Between Congenital Heart Disease Mortality in High Income and Low Income Countries

This month Heart Healers International founder Dr. Craig Sable and a team of international collaborators, through the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, published an updated paper on congenital heart disease mortality around the world. 

The paper provides a follow-up to previous studies published in 2017 and 2019 and tracks a significant disparity between CHD mortality in high income and low income countries. 

Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality from birth defects worldwide. With intervention (surgery or heart catheterization), many children with heart problems have a normal life expectancy and quality of life – in 2014 survival after heart surgery in children approaches 98%. Without treatment, these children will become progressively sicker and are unlikely to survive into adulthood; many will die before 5 years of age.

Unfortunately, only 7% of the world’s population has access to corrective heart treatment that is available in developed countries; sub-Saharan Africa is the worst off. There are nearly 6 million children worldwide with potentially treatable congenital heart defects that do not have access to care, including thousands of children in Uganda.

Heart Healers International is working to address that major gap. With your help, we can keep up this life-saving work. Please make a donation to Heart Healers International by clicking here.