The mission of the International Children’s Heart Foundation (ICHF) is to bring the skills, technology and knowledge to cure and care for children with congenital heart disease in developing nations. ICHF does this regardless of country of origin, race, religion or gender. Our goal is to make the need for ICHF obsolete. We work toward this goal through our medical mission trips, where we operate on children and educate local healthcare professionals.
Approximately 1 in every 100 children will be born with a heart defect.
Many of these children will never see their first birthday because of congenital heart disease. Because the resources to treat and cure congenital heart disease are not readily available in these regions, the parents of these children are often powerless to save them.
In operation since 1993, ICHF assembles volunteer medical teams from around the world to provide free pediatric cardiac surgeries, training and medical resources to countries without access to them. We implement our collaborative teaching curriculum by operating with and educating local healthcare professionals in their own hospitals. We utilize a variety of educational models, including formal lectures, simulation and clinical teaching. We also assist with medication and equipment needs when necessary and can provide resources to help with organizational change in the centers that we help. With this training, the local teams gradually acquire the skills to care for their children independently.
So far, ICHF’s medical teams have performed more than 7,750 operations in more than 33 hospitals around the globe. As a 501(c)3 charitable organization, we enlist your support to provide hope and life for children throughout the developing world.
If you share our passion for saving children with congenital heart disease, we encourage you to join us as a medical volunteer or a donor. Together, we can continue to save thousands of lives.
