Avenue Kenneth Kaunda n° 1111
Maputo, Mozambique
Tel +258 142 54 09 • Fax +258 142 66 68
Director: Prof. Betriz Ferrara
Pediatric Cardiologist, Beatriz@tvcabo.co.mz
Why a heart institute in Mozambique?
The Country
Independent from Portugal since 1975, Mozambique covers 800,000 km2 (310,000 sq. miles), somewhat larger than Texas, USA. With the Indian Ocean on the East, and sharing borders with South Africa in the South, Zimbabwe, Zambezi, Malawi in the West, and Tanzania in the North. The population: 20M inhabitants, two third of whom are under 25. The Capital is Maputo, 2M, a harbor on the Indian Ocean. The income per capita is only $1400. Life expectancy is below 50 years old and infant mortality rate is 13%.
The Heart Diseases Situation
Among the many scourges afflicting Mozambique, heart diseases rank high, particularly with the young population — over 150,000 children suffer from cardiovascular diseases and 10% of them urgently need heart surgery. The cardiovascular diseases which threaten the children of Mozambique are:
- Congenital Heart Disease: 5%
- Acute Rheumatic Fever: approx. 2% of the school age population.
More specific pathologies, such as African Endomyocardial Fibrosis, which affects 8% of the entire population in some coastal regions. The research on this disease has already been granted a Chair at UNESCO. The only active treatments are surgery and cardiac catheterization.
Public interest mobilizing international support
From left to right: Laurent-technician, Dr. Rene Pretre, Dr. Daniel Sidi, and Dr. Pascal VouheThe Implementation
Twenty five years of war and agony, from 1973 to 1998, with 6M displaced population resulted to a dramatic situation in the health sector.
In 1998, Dr. Daniel Sidi, head of Cardiology department at Hospital Necker Enfants Malades, vice president of La Chaine de l’Espoir, and member of SoH Board proposed to President Chisano and the government of Mozambique, to design the Maputo Heart Institute to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases, as well as to be an academic center for cardiac research and training. With the Mozambican association, Amigo do Corazon, officially assigned to develop, the Institute, Dr. Sidi led a consortium of five international aid organizations:
- Cadeia de Esperanca (Portugal)
- La Chaine de l’Espoir (France)
- Chain of Hope (United Kingdom)
- CODEV (France)
- Cours Pour Tous (Switzerland)
They were mobilized to monitor the implementation of the Institute and secure its lasting operation on a 10,000 sq. m. (107,640 sq. ft.) plot of land provided by the Mozambique government.
In 2001, the 30-bed hospital was inaugurated and the research center on cardiovascular diseases, Endomyocardial Fibrosis, in 2006.
The Facility
Main entrance to MHIThe hospital is actually situated in a former military complex which has been fully-renovated and refurbished to suit the needs of the Institute; the hospital and research center cover a floor space of 1,500m² (16,145 sq. ft.). the Institute is designed to accommodate 500 operations and 10,000 examinations each year.
- A complete and autonomous unit of cardiac surgery (two operating rooms, catheterization and interventional cardiology facilities),
- Eight recovery beds equipped with respirators, twenty-two in-patient beds,
- A radiography unit, two examination rooms fitted with machines for echocardiography,
- A biological laboratory, a pharmacy, a blood bank and classrooms,
- A research center for African cardiovascular diseases
Catheterization RoomThe Organizational Structure
The Maputo Heart Institute is a well-known non-profit organization serving the public interest. The founding network of affiliate organizations are members of the Administrative Board to ensure humanitarian action. Until the Institute run fully autonomous, they supply the equipment and take care of operations through surgery and catheterization seminar, staff training, implementation of the cardiovascular diseases preventive and research programs.
The Director of MHI is Beatriz Ferrara, MD, Pediatric Cardiologist.
The total number of permanent local staff is 38 (including 3 senior cardiologists). Five interventional surgical missions of 12 organized by SoH and affiliate organizations are coming to the Institute each year. Each mission lasts 10 to 15 days.
Operating Room at MHIAn Innovative Treatment Financing
The Institute provides the diagnosis and treatment of patients for all of Mozambique. Since July 2001, examinations are provided by the Institute while surgical missions are carried out every two months by American and European partner associations until the Institute can operate autonomously. The Institute cares for the continuous influx of new fee-paying patients, but also offers free medical care to destitute children. Thanks to an independent social fund augmented by donations, grants and the fee-paying patients, the Institute is able to offer equal treatment to all the economic levels of the population due to a unique, graduated payment scheme.
Accomplishments 2001-2006 (July)
ICU Room, 8 beds- 33,224 consultations, 402 surgeries and 568 catheterizations performed.
- 362 surgeries and 125 catheterizations: non-paying, indigent children.
- Cost of surgery per child is $4,200.
The next two SoH Missions to Mozambique at Maputo Heart Institute:
December 2-18, 2006
Cardiac Surgery Mission of 12 led by Dr. Francois Lacour-Gayet, Professor of Surgery, University of Colorado and Head of Cardiac Surgery Department, Denver Children’s Hospital. They will perform 20 procedures on indigent children (15 open-heart surgeries and 5 catheterizations).
March 2-12, 2007
Cardiac Surgery Mission of 11 led by Dr. Jonathan Chen, Director of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, Children’s Hospital of New York, New York Presbyterian Hospital. They will perform 17 procedures on indigent children (12 surgeries and 5 catheterizations).