4 Breath 4 Life Interventions

What are you raising money for?

“Heart 4 Nigeria” provides heart surgeries for children and adults. Funds are needed for equipment, materials, drugs and logistics. Foreign teams come to carry out surgery while also helping to build local capacity. Despite the burden of congenital heart disease in the country there is a paucity of clinical and surgical services for these children and adults as well. We have an inadequate number of trained cardiac surgeons as well as an inadequate capacity to pay for the services where they are available. In the whole country, there are only 2 or 3 active Pediatric cardiac surgeons unfortunately. In the past year, less than 200 cases were done across the country. Surgeries cost millions of naira which most families are unable to afford. On the other hand, those who have the capacity to pay, seek services abroad. In the absence of critical surgical intervention, majority of these children die within the first year of life. “Every Baby Lives” trains local providers on basic neonatal care and resuscitation. Funds are needed for equipment, training and logistics. Many providers are inadequately trained and ill equipped to handle conditions like Birth Asphyxia which causes at least 30% of neonatal deaths. Many children are labelled as stillbirth even while their hearts are still beating. We have a strong focus on underserved areas. The situation is compounded by the fact that more than 60% of our mothers deliver their babies outside the hospital. Our trained providers are now able to save the lives of these babies.

Why are you raising the funds?

Despite our efforts, there are grossly inadequate funds to run these programs. We are all volunteers so all funds received go towards projects. We are calling on well-meaning individuals and entities to synergize and partner with us. The program will help the underprivileged while also doing the same at a subsidized cost for those with the capacity to pay. This program will require a significant amount of resources and adequate planning with critical local support. A lot of the needed materials are sourced from outside the country and the low naira exchange rate adds to the cost significantly. We have a critical need for oxygenators with the accompanying custom packs. This has been one of the most expensive of all the materials for surgery and we are hoping to build a stock of oxygenators to aid this work. A concerted effort at fundraising will be a key component of the intervention. We also plan for a unique public awareness strategy to highlight the positive impact of this intervention and get much needed financial support from individuals, corporate entities and the government.

What will the funds raised help achieve?

Heart 4 Nigeria is an exciting initiative to help to address the need for adequate cardiac surgical services in the country.. International teams with specific skills in cardiac surgery will come to the country on periodic surgical mission trips and provide surgical services at different centers in Nigeria while at the same time training the local providers on needed surgical, nursing and intensive care skills. We intend to foster bridges of collaboration across multiple stakeholders. This initiative will also go a long way to reduce medical tourism. We are so happy at the prospect of stemming the tide of preventable deaths amongst children with congenital heart diseases requiring surgery. "Every Baby Lives" brings to bear a practical and impactful intervention. Human capacity development is one of our core interests therefore we train health care providers on lifesaving skills for mothers and babies. In addition, we help to expand their knowledge base so as to improve the quality of care they deliver. Our primary goal is for a skilled provider to be present at every birth. We also run health clinics and training workshops where we provide health screening and health awareness especially for those in rural areas. There is a clear need to increase medical knowledge amongst the populace so individuals can make better-informed decisions regarding their health. We are firm believers in the sustainable development goals of which the third is focused on ensuring healthy lives and promoting well being for all. Our mantra is “Every Life Matters”