Two hundred children in Fiji and more than 2500 children in the Pacific are born with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) every year.

Sai Prema Foundation director Sumeet Tappoo revealed this yesterday during the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Fiji.

Mr Tappoo said the partnership with UNDP would allow the Sai Prema Foundation to combat the increasing incidence of Congenital Heart Disease by identifying complementary programmes with a focused two-pronged objective.

“Firstly, to increase awareness of the disease and secondly, to treat the disease through the Children’s Heart Hospital in Fiji, which we are planning to open soon,” he said.

Mr Tappoo also said the foundation’s $25 million specialist Children’s Heart Hospital was the largest project undertaken by any non-government organisation in Fiji.

“There can’t be any better example than our hospital project to illustrate our commitment towards people of Fiji and the Pacific,” he said.

He said there would be no billing counter and all surgeries would be completely free of charge.

“I thank UNDP for assisting the foundation and giving us the wings of hope, freedom, justice and peace,” Mr Tappoo said.

Sai Prema Foundation Fiji is working on a number of initiatives in healthcare, education and social services; and through this MoU, the Foundation will have access to UNDP’s technical support and leverage its partnerships to further strengthen and broaden the Foundation’s on-going initiatives such as developing an online medical record system for a more effective treatment of patients in rural Fiji, increasing the knowledge base of Pediatric Cardiology in Fiji and the Pacific, expand the
Foundation’s national feeding project for the poor and needy, and rural outreach medical project, among a number of other initiatives.

Edited by Jonathan Bryce

Feedback: shreeya.verma@fijisun.com.fj