By Leila Hawken | Global Giving Coordinator
Surgeons of Hope reports issued during the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic have detailed how we dealt with travel limitations that curtailed medical missions to the countries we serve in Latin America. In the interim we stepped up our training opportunities for local medical teams, we provided supplies where needed and we implemented telehealth procedures to support our surgical teams with consultation.
But now we celebrate that we have recently completed our first in-person mission in two years by visiting Mexico City. We were invited to perform a program assessment at the Hospital Infantil de Mexico Federico Gomez, one of Mexico’s oldest and largest pediatric hospitals. The mission occurred between July 19 and 22, and the outcome could only be termed “successful.”
In Mexico, congenital heart disease is the second leading cause of death among children under five years of age. The rate in that country is higher than the world’s average, showing 8-12 incidences per 1,000 live births. The waiting list for corrective surgery is outpacing the availability of skilled medical teams. The longer a child must wait, the more severe the condition becomes and the weaker the child becomes. The result is higher mortality.
Our five-member team consisted of SoH board members and a medical team of volunteers from Utah’s Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital. The team thoroughly reviewed the hospital’s intensive care units, measured infection control and epidemiology procedures, joined case discussions, supported the surgical team and led a televised medical symposium.
With your support Surgeons of Hope will continue to expand our work in Latin America and strengthen struggling pediatric programs. We are organizing 2-3 more missions before the end of 2022 to Costa Rica, Paraguay and hopefully again to Mexico.
Will you continue to help us save one more? Your GlobalGiving donation will provide care where it is most needed. This is how the world’s child mortality rate comes down, a case at a time, as your donation joins with our committed GlobalGiving community to make it happen.
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