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Showing posts from June, 2020

Understanding Congenital Heart Disease: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments

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Congenital heart defects refer to defects in the heart that children are born with. These are one of the most common congenital defects globally. In India too, 200,000+ children are born with a congenital heart defect (CHD). These are the numbers of the cases that are recorded – there maybe many more which go undiagnosed and hence untreated. Only 25 per cent of the children diagnosed with a congenital heart defect are able to get the required treatment. A lack of awareness and access to resources are the biggest challenges in children getting timely treatment. Organisations like Genesis Foundation, a congenital heart foundation India has been taking steps to both build awareness and provide financial treatment to those who cannot afford the cost of treatment. The treatment for CHD is expensive and families that do not earn enough to meet their daily needs have to depend on funds they receive as a congenital heart disease donation to support the treatment. Symptoms of Congenital Heart

Treatment for Congenital Heart Defects during Covid-19

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India is now in the top 5 worst affected countries by the COVID-19 pandemic. Dealing with the unforeseen challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a significant toll on people all across the world including India. With testing protocols in place, a closely monitored testing and surveillance strategy, numbers are steadily rising in India.  And during such unprecedented times of COVID-19, just like every society and country is facing challenges, so is the Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) community. It is estimated that 8 children per 1000 live births have some form of CHD. The treatment for congenital heart defects has become even more challenging with lack of transport options, significant job losses, delayed COVID-19 test results, overstretched medical staff etc. leading to logistical problems. Until now, very few children with COVID-19 have become critical or fatal cases. But this does not mean that children are completely safe, because they’re always in the vicinity