JAKARTA: The Saudi aid agency KSrelief has launched a pediatric cardiac surgery project in Indonesia, with volunteer doctors from the Kingdom set to perform dozens of procedures this week and share their know-how with Indonesian colleagues.
A 16-member team of Saudi medics arrived at M. Djamil Central General Hospital in Padang, West Sumatra, last week, where they are performing free surgeries until July 31.
An estimated 50,000 Indonesian children are born with heart disease every year, according to data from the Indonesian Pediatric Society. Only about 15 percent are treated for it, as there is a severe shortage of specialist wards across the country.
The project is an “extremely valuable humanitarian collaboration,” said Dovy Djanas, the Padang hospital’s president director.
“This is a truly valuable chance for children in West Sumatra who are in need of heart surgery, allowing them to receive free healthcare from experienced medical professionals.”
The program is also in line with the hospital’s own mission of expanding the reach of cardiac care in the Sumatra region, so that “local patients no longer need to be referred to Jakarta,” he added.
Cardiac procedures on Indonesian children are often referred to hospitals in the capital, Jakarta, which is more than 1,200 km away from Padang.
KSrelief’s pediatric cardiac surgery project, which is organized with the Muslim World League, supports Indonesia’s health system transformation plan, under which all regional government hospitals should become capable of carrying out open-heart surgery and pediatric heart surgery.
The Saudi doctors are also providing guest lectures as part of the project, covering post-surgery care and the latest developments in cardiology.
KSrelief has previously organized similar programs in other parts of Indonesia, including in Medan, North Sumatra, and Makassar, South Sulawesi. The Saudi aid agency has also provided training in advanced cardiac procedures on adults, as well as oral, maxillofacial and thyroid surgery.
The projects concerning child heart surgery, in particular, have benefited hundreds of Indonesian children, allowing them to undergo “cardiac surgeries that were previously difficult for them to access,” said Ardiansyah, a doctor at M. Djamil Hospital who is working closely with the KSrelief team.
“Through collaboration between the Indonesian medical team and experts from KSrelief and MWL, we hope to increase local capacity that will provide long-term benefits for the development of pediatric cardiac surgery services in Indonesia.”
