Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has deployed a medical convoy to Bangladesh, under the Little Hearts program. Over 10 days, a specialist medical team will perform cardiac catheterizations for 100 children with congenital heart defects. They include physicians and assistants from the United States, Jordan, Palestine, and Qatar.
The mission is coordinated with Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS), Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), and Sidra Medicine. The total budget is $202,157 (QR 737,873).
Most of the medical equipment and consumables were procured from HMC and medical suppliers in Doha, while the remaining were procured from the authorized supplier of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) in Dhaka, which will host the procedures. “The medical convoy is planned to perform diagnostic and interventional cardiac catheterizations to correct heart abnormalities in 100 children. We seek to help them to regain their normal lives and bring relief to the parents that their little kids are safe,” said Dr. Khaled Alamelhoda, QRCS’s Medical Convoy Program Coordinator.
He said that focus will be on the critical cases from the poorest families. “The cost is too high, and there are few physicians in the country who can perform such procedures. The Medical Convoy program is funded exclusively by individual and institutional donors in Qatar. This shows how your donations are key to save the lives of many ill children in underserved countries,” said Dr. Alamelhoda.
He urged the donors in Qatar to extend help to humanity by supporting this noble program. “We appeal to your sense of solidarity and altruism,” he said.
Later this month, another medical convoy is set to launch in Jakarta, Indonesia, to treat 35 poor children born with heart problems. The mission at the cost of $105,591 will be coordinated with the Indonesian Red Cross Society (PMI).