Minnesota Partners For the Children s Heart Fund of Ethiopia Saving lives of children and young adults with heart disease in Ethiopia by establishing sustainable prevention and treatment programs In 2010, Minneapolis heart surgeon Dr. Vib Kshettry traveled to Ethiopia with a pediatric cardiac surgery team from the Minneapolis Heart Institute to perform life- saving surgeries for children with heart disease in Ethiopia. This was part of a growing initiative led by Minnesota healthcare professionals to help Ethiopia develop: Its first cardiac surgery team that can treat children in Ethiopia with heart disease A program to prevent Ethiopian children from acquiring rheumatic heart disease, which is caused by untreated strep throat. One in every 120 babies born each year in the U.S., Ethiopia, and around the globe, will have a congenital heart defect. An abnormality in the heart s structure is the #1 birth defect worldwide. In the U.S., babies are routinely screened for heart problems, and almost all are successfully treated. These children will grow up to lead normal lives. In Ethiopia, a country with 85 million people, there are no pediatric cardiac surgery teams, and only a few of these children s families are able to find treatment from experts outside Ethiopia. Without good diagnosis and treatment, Ethiopian children with congenital and rheumatic heart disease will suffer from heart failure, and many will not survive. A group of Minnesotans, learning of Dr. Kshettry s efforts, has come together to help, forming Minnesota Partners for the Children s Heart Fund of Ethiopia. Our goals are to support: 1. Training of a full pediatric cardiac surgery team of Ethiopians to establish a sustainable cardiac surgery program in Addis Ababa, the capital. Currently the CHFE has sent 10 Ethiopian medical professionals to a highly regarded training program in Bangalore, India. 2. Periodic visits by Dr. Kshettry and his team to Ethiopia to treat children during the next 4-5 years while the Ethiopian cardiac surgery team is in training. Dr. Kshettry and his cardiac surgery team are planning their next visit to Ethiopia in Jan/Feb 2014.
3. Development and evaluation of a rheumatic heart disease (RHD) awareness campaign and prevention program in a primary care clinic in Ethiopia, which is sustainable and scalable. This will be planned in collaboration with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health. It could serve as a catalyst for a broader prevention campaign in Ethiopia. We will meet with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health in Feb 2014 to develop a plan for the RHD program. In the interim, our Minnesota Partners have links with RHD prevention specialists at the World Heart Federation to learn about best practices. We expect to reach these goals within five years, after which the program will be self- sustaining in Ethiopia. What makes this a particularly outstanding opportunity? We will build long term, sustainable heart disease expertise for children in Ethiopia, at a relatively low cost, working with top leaders in cardiac care. A small, state of the art children s heart hospital has been recently constructed and equipped in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, where CHFE s surgical team will work, thanks to fund raising efforts in the U.S. and elsewhere. The children s heart hospital will have sufficient annual operating income to offer surgeries to poor families. A donor to the hospital s capital campaign gifted the income from rental properties in Addis Ababa to the hospital for its operating budget. The Ethiopian cardiac surgery team does not have to pay tuition for the training they will receive at the Narayana Hrudayalaya (NH) hospital in Bangalore, thanks to Dr. Kshettry s strong ties with the founder of the hospital, Dr. Devi Shetty. (Dr. Shetty, Mother Theresa s cardiologist, received an honorary degree from the University of Minnesota in 2011 for his extraordinary work to expand healthcare access worldwide.) We are raising funds just for the Ethiopia team s living and travel expenses. Dr. Belay Abegaz, a U.S.- trained pediatric cardiologist in Addis Ababa, is a strong advocate for cardiac care for children in Ethiopia. He has been a key leader in the construction of the children s heart hospital, and is working closely with Dr. Kshettry s team to achieve CHFE s goals. The NH hospital where the Ethiopian team is training in India is a strong partner. Dr. Kshettry trained some of the staff in India, and can attest to the quality of the program there. An advantage to training CHFE s team in India is that they will have hands- on experience with patients, and they will see patients with heart
problems similar to the Ethiopian population, such as advanced RHD; as RHD is all but eliminated in the U.S., training this team in the U.S. would not provide that experience. Finances Our current fund raising goal is $100,000, to cover the cost of the 2014 visits by Dr. Kshettry s cardiac surgery team to Ethiopia, and living & travel expenses for the Ethiopian surgical team in training in India. We have raised $10,000 to date toward that goal, which includes support for our modest administrative costs of $5,000. All funds raised going forward will support direct program expenses. Leadership Dr. Vib Kshettry is a cardiovascular, thoracic and cardiac transplant surgeon at the Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, and Director of the Cardiac Surgery Training Program. Dr. Kshettry has volunteered his time over the past 20 years helping developing countries establish cardiovascular care. Members of Minnesota Partners for CHFE bring strong medical and business backgrounds to this effort. They include representatives from legal and financial firms, health administration, medical technology, as well as additional clinical experts. Contributions to Children s Heart Fund of Ethiopia Contributions for CHFE can be made through the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, which has oversight for the funds. MHIF is a nonprofit 501c3, independent of Allina. http://www.mplsheart.org/ Contact For more information, please contact Wendy Bennett, wenbennett227@gmail.com.
Children s Heart Fund of Ethiopia Status of Training Program Staff Status 3 Intensive Care Nurses Training completed; returned to Ethiopia to work at CHFE hospital 3 Intensive Care Nurses Currently training on a 2- year program 2 Perfusionists* Currently training on a 2- year program 1 Pediatric cardiologist Completing first year of a 3- year program 1 Adult cardiologist Completing first year of a 3- year program 1 Cardiac surgeon Candidate identified; beginning soon on a 3- year program 1 Anesthesiologist Candidate identified; beginning soon on a 3- year program *Perfusionist operates the heart- lung machine As of September 2013
Children s Heart Fund of Ethiopia 2013-14 Budget $ 15,000 Train 2 Cardiologists and 2 perfusionists through 2014 $ 15,000 Train 2 surgeons and 2 anesthesiologists for 3 years; CHFE has donors outside the U.S. who can provide matching funds $ 65,000 2 medical missions from MN to Ethiopia in 2014 (Jan/Feb. & Nov.) $ 5,000* Communications & Admin $100,000 Total *These costs have been met through early gifts. All funds raised now will go directly to program expenses.
Minnesota Partners Volunteers for the Children s Heart Fund of Minnesota Dr. Susan Alpert Principle, SFA Consulting, LLC Formerly Senior Vice President, Medtronic Dr. Brian Anderson Cardiologist Susan Anderson Registered Nurse Wendy Bennett Consultant to Foundations in Global Health Ann Eilbracht Vice President of Human Resources Hennepin County Medical Center Bruce Johnson Lawyer with Fredrikson & Byron Formerly with Medtronic Inc. Bill Kelly Government Relations Manager (retired) Wells Fargo Dr. Vib Kshettry Cardiovascular, Thoracic and Cardiac Transplant Surgeon Director of Cardiac Surgery Training Program The Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital Dr. Luis Pagan- Carlo Cardiologist The Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital James H. Patterson Managing Partner Patterson Thuente IP Jim Toscano President Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation Girma Wolde- Michael Deputy Chief IP Counsel & International IP Operations Head Medtronic, Inc.