The Odisha Government and Amrita Hospital, Kochi, on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding to provide free comprehensive cardiac care to children from the State suffering from congenital heart disease and rheumatic heart disease.
The MoU was signed at Kharavela Bhawan in Bhubaneswar by Dr Brundha D., IAS, Mission Director, National Health Mission, Odisha, on behalf of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, and Dr Brijesh P. K., Clinical Professor of Paediatric and Adult Congenital Heart Surgery, on behalf of Amrita Hospital, Kochi.
The signing took place in the presence of Dr Mukesh Mahaling, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Government of Odisha, and Ms Aswathy S., IAS, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare.
Under the agreement, Amrita Hospital will provide free cardiac screening, pre-operative evaluation, surgery, catheter-based interventions, medicines, hospitalisation, post-operative care and follow-up treatment to referred children up to 18 years of age.
“District-level screening camps will be conducted across Odisha, particularly in underserved areas, to identify children requiring specialised cardiac care. The partnership will also help train healthcare personnel in the early detection, diagnosis and initial management of paediatric heart diseases, while strengthening awareness among communities and local healthcare providers,” said Dr Brundha D., IAS, Mission Director, National Health Mission, Odisha.
“We directly evaluate more than 2,000 children every year through our cardiac outreach camps, and over 750 children identified through these programmes undergo surgery or catheter-based interventions at Amrita Hospital. These procedures would ordinarily cost between ₹2 lakh and ₹4 lakh. We are happy to collaborate with the Government of Odisha to extend comprehensive and accessible cardiac care to children across the State,” said Dr R. Krishna Kumar, Head and Clinical Professor, Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Amrita Hospital, Kochi.
