Jaipur, 30^th September, 2021.

10-year-old Muskan God was extremely weak and could barely walk, study or play due to a serious heart defect (TOF) which made her feel very sick. Her father, the only earning member in the family has been missing and since then the basic needs of her family like food, clothing etc. was being supported by a community of villagers. Given her situation, a heart surgery seemed out of bounds. Her mother’s joy knew no bounds when the child was screened and operated at Narayana Multispeciality Hospital, Jaipur; with the surgery being sponsored by Koshika Foundation. Like Muskan, more than 64 children have already benefited from the financial assistance programme run by Narayana hospital, Jaipur & Koshika foundation, with many more heart surgeries & interventions in the pipeline of the children recently screened.

To identify such needy candidates, screening camps are held at the hospital annually. Such camps provide a platform for children from economically backward communities of Rajasthan & nearby States to avail treatment for life threatening congenital heart conditions.

In the recently concluded annual screening camp, more than 68 underprivileged children were screened with 20 identified for heart treatment who shall benefit from the programme run jointly by Narayana hospital and Koshika foundation. Such camps reflect Narayana Health & Koshika foundations commitment to meaningfully reach out to the community at large and spread more awareness regarding paediatric cardiac ailments said Mr. Balwinder Singh Walia, Facility Director, Narayana Multispeciality Hospital, Jaipur

An expert team of Paediatric cardiac surgeons and paediatric cardiologists operated on the sixty-four children aged one year & above. The complex procedures and surgeries ranged from VSD repair to TOF. The paediatric cardiac sciences team included Dr CP Srivastava, Dr Ankit Mathur, Dr Sunil Sharma, Dr Prashant Mahawar, Dr Omeshwar Sharma, Dr Abhinav Singh, Dr Sunil Gupta and cardiac anaesthetist Dr Pradeep Goyal from Narayana Multi-Specialty Hospital, Jaipur.

Dr. Mala Airun, Zonal Clinical Director, Narayana Multispeciality Hospital, Jaipur said “The Little Heart’s programme at Narayana Multispeciality Hospital, Jaipur has, over the years, helped hundreds of needy children but there are many children registered with the State’s Government hospitals, waiting for such interventions and surgeries to get a fresh lease of life. We are thankful to our partner – Koshika Foundation whose unstinted financial support helps us meet the cost of these high-end complex surgeries & interventions.

Mr. Somesh Sehgal, Trustee, Koshika Foundation said “This initiative aims at helping the needy irrespective of their caste, creed or religion. Only a small fraction of children born with congenital heart defects can afford heart treatment since sophisticated paediatric cardiac care is expensive and beyond the reach of citizens belonging to the underprivileged sections of society. Institutional partnerships such as the one between Koshika Foundation and Narayana Health help create a new model for sustainable healthcare delivery. We are happy that we could give 64 children a new lease of life and our intent is to help many more in the months to come”