An Italian team of surgeons, assisted by Romanian counterparts, has saved six children, including a one-day-old baby, with congenital heart defects.

The team, working at the cardiovascular surgery clinic of the Marie Curie Children’s Hospital in Bucharest, operated on six children between September 23 and 25, their ages ranging from 12 years to one-day-old.

According to Italian doctor Alessandro Frigiola, there are 2,000 new cases of congenital heart defects per year in Romania and some 1,500 children die annually because of these conditions.

State Secretary Raed Arafat, quoted by Mediafax, said the team had to battle through the complexities of Romania's bureaucracy before any of the surgeries could take place.

“In order to get here, to achieve these first six interventions, namely five heart surgeries and one of interventional cardiology, we broke all the bureaucratic rules and covered our ears for the “no” word,” Arafat said.

The operations were part of the pediatric cardiovascular surgery programme initiated by the Romanian Ministry of Health in collaboration with San Donato clinic and Bambini Cardiopatici nel Mondo association.

Equipment at the department of pediatric cardiac surgery at Marie Curie hospital has been upgraded to the tune of EUR 4.2 million, including EUR 1.5 million which came from donations collected by Inima Copiilor association.

About EUR 2.3 million was provided by the Ministry of Health, while the rest came from several donations and sponsorships, according to the Romanian Ministry of Health.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Sxc.hu)