We believe that every person affected by childhood-onset heart disease has the right to receive all needed services to reach their full potential. We are asking our members and the CHD/RHD community to please sign our Declaration.
Our alliance brings together organizations from around the world to learn, collaborate, and speak out together about the unmet needs of those living with heart conditions that begin in childhood.
Learn more about CHD and RHD and how it affects people worldwide, and watch our Global ARCH LIVE webinars on a wide variety of topics. As well, you will find educational material and useful links – and we’re always adding more.
On May 21, Menudos Corazones Foundation organized the “Day for the Visibility” to recognize the rights of people with congenital heart disease and their families, at the Congress of Deputies in Madrid, Spain. At the event they launched “Menudos Corazones – Decalogue for patients with congenital heart disease and their families”, with the following 10 goals
I was diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease in 2001 when I was 11 years old. After a bout of tonsillitis, I started to experience symptoms of rheumatic fever. The sore throat from the tonsillitis turned to chest pain, joint pain, chronic fatigue, shortness of breath, increased heart rate, and swollen hands and feet. I developed
Global ARCH played a key role at the World Health Assembly Side Event in Geneva, collaborating with allied organizations to present “Congenital Anomalies and Universal Health: Leaving No One Behind”. Bistra Zheleva, Global ARCH board member, and Vice President of Global Strategy and Advocacy at Children’s HeartLink, introduced the side event saying, “We are here
In April, Global ARCH Executive Director Kate Doherty-Schmeck and Board member Ruth Ngwaro attended the inaugural international conference on the PEN-Plus regional strategy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to address severe and chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Health experts, survivors, and leaders advanced discussions on ending NCDs. They gathered with health ministries, African country leaders and health ministry
Together we can help organizations worldwide make a difference in the lives of children and adults with CHD and RHD, and their families. Please donate today.
Join our global network of CHD and RHD organizations so we can all work together to improve the lives of children and adults with heart disease that begins in childhood.
Nahimeh Jaffar has worked as a certified Project Manager (PMP) in various fields, including Public Health, Biotech, and Pharmaceuticals, working within clinical settings such as hospitals and clinics. In addition, she worked with global communities in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Middle East, supporting various social impact projects. Ms. Jaffar has been involved in preventive health initiatives in collaboration with the Center for Disease Control (CDC, USA) and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS, USA).
Ms. Jaffar holds an MBA in Business Development from the Swiss Institute of Higher Management, Vevey, Switzerland, and a bachelor’s degree in Consumer Affairs from California State University, Northridge, USA.
Amy Verstappen has been a patient advocate and health educator since 1996, when her own challenges living with a complex heart defect led her to the Adult Congenital Heart Association, where she served as president from 2001 to 2013. She has served as an advisor to the Centers for Disease Control the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; and the International Society for Adult Congenital Cardiac Disease, and worked with congenital heart patient and professional groups throughout the USA and the world. Ms. Verstappen received a Masters in Education in 1990 and a Masters in Global Health in 2019.