Why a Global Coalition Matters: One Mother’s Story
Tendai Moyo, founder of Brave Little Hearts Zimbabwe, is an active member the Global ARCH Board of Directors. She joined to help raise awareness about congenital heart disease (CHD) and the devastating impact it can have on families struggling to find lifesaving medical care for their babies with CHD.
A race against time to save “Rudo”
In 2017, Tendai and her family were running out of time trying to raise the funds to send 9-month-old Rudorwashe Grace to India where surgery for her condition was available. They had managed to raise just a portion and were distraught at the thought of losing her. Their dwindling funds were used to cover the cost of her heart failure medication and oxygen to keep her alive.
Baby “Rudo” was only diagnosed at 7 months as the medical facilities in Zimbabwe lacked the necessary equipment to detect her condition earlier.
Sadly, Rudo died before the family had raised the money necessary for her surgeries.
This is just one of many hundreds of thousands of similar stories worldwide. It is a sobering fact that globally, 90% of babies with CHD die due to lack of access to a timely diagnosis and lifesaving medical treatment.
To read more about what Brave Little Hearts Zimbabwe has done to help their community click HERE.
The Global Coalition for Pediatric & Congenital Hearts – advocacy in action – one step at a time
In response to the stark inequities in lifesaving heart care care globally, Global ARCH launched the Global Coalition for Pediatric & Congenital Hearts in partnership with Children’s HeartLink. The goal is to create a collective voice to advocate for improved services. Our first step was the Call to Action, an impactful advocacy tool that has been shared with key leaders at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Bank, the United Nations General Assembly, various Ambassadors and high-ranking government officials, and leaders in the pediatric & congenital cardiac community.
We are asking our CHD community to please join the Global Coalition for Pediatric & Congenital Hearts HERE.
Learn more about Tendai and the work being done by Brave Little Hearts Zimbabwe HERE.
For more information about Global ARCH’s advocacy work, please click HERE.
