Fourteen children from four Pacific countries will receive life-saving paediatric cardiac surgery in Fiji this month, through an innovative new initiative under the New Zealand Medical Treatment Scheme (NZMTS).
Children from Samoa, Vanuatu, Kiribati and Tuvalu will receive treatment in Suva under the Uto Bulabula – Healthy Hearts initiative this year.
Funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and coordinated by the Pasifika Medical Association (PMA) Group, the Uto Bulabula – Healthy Hearts initiative will bring 35 doctors, nurses, and technicians from New Zealand’s Hearts4Kids Foundation to Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Hospital in Suva to deliver critical cardiac care to children as young as 7-months-old.
It will be the largest mission undertaken in the history of the New Zealand Medical Treatment Scheme, which has been facilitating life-saving care for people in Pacific countries for over 30 years.
PMAG CEO, Debbie Sorensen, says the Uto Bulabula – Healthy Hearts initiative was developed after discussions with partner countries revealed a regional healthcare gap that called for a regional solution.
“When we asked each of our Pacific country partners about their priorities for their funding allocation under the NZMTS, most of them told us that there was a significant need for paediatric cardiology care. But they also recognised that bringing children to New Zealand for cardiac care is incredibly expensive.
Dr Kirsten Finucane, former Head of Paediatric and Congenital Cardiac Surgery at Starship and Auckland Hospitals, will lead the volunteer Hearts4Kids medical team, which has been treating children in Fiji since 2014.
She described how the Uto Bulabula – Healthy Hearts initiative will help to grow Heart4Kids’ reach across the region, in a Pacific-led way.
“It has always been a dream that we could try and get children from other Pacific countries into Fiji for treatment. The project has a huge amount of value.
