THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Over 5,000 children underwent free heart surgeries under the Hridyam programme launched by the health department to reduce infant mortality rate. The programme was launched to tackle congenital heart diseases (CHD) when K K Shailaja was the health minister in 2017.
As many as 9,230 infants have registered under the programme. Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences conducted most of the surgeries (2,254) followed by Aster MIMS (1,325).
This year over 1,000 children underwent surgery and of them 479 were children below one-year-old. Health Minister Veena George said that the government plans to expand the programme to benefit more children. “The lives of children can be saved by involving both private and public hospitals. Through Hridyam the children will get timely treatment,” said Veena.
She said the government has started a comprehensive support programme for children with heart diseases. The programme aims to ensure growth and progress of children with the support of district early intervention centres and nurses from Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK), the minister said.So far, 98 children have registered under the programme and those found to have problems were given support through district early intervention centres.