DOHA: Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS), in collaboration with Somalia's Ministry of Health (MOH), has dispatched 'Little Hearts' medical convoy to Somalia to perform cardiac catheterizations for 70 children with congenital heart defects at the Somali Sudanese Specialized Hospital (SSSH) in Mogadishu.
Implemented by volunteer medical staffers from Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and Sidra Medicine, the inauguration ceremony of this convoy was attended by HE Somali Minister of State for Health, Maryam Mohamed Hussein, alongside several representatives of relevant humanitarian entities.
Costing a total of over QR952,000, the convoy is intended to examine 200 children suffering from heart problems and selecting 70 patients to undergo therapeutic cardiac catheterizations.
The convoy's action plan included holding a two-day capacity-building workshop for physicians and nurses on Basic Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), with the participation of 170 local medical professionals, to deal with critical pediatric cases, in collaboration with Somalia's MoH and the Somali Medical Association.
Over the first four days of the convoy, 35 successful cardiac catheterizations were performed, with 100 percent success, including complex cases that required significant procedures. And one of the beneficiaries was a 17-day-old, born with a rare congenital heart defect.
