Simply stated, ICHF needs charitable contributions from individuals, businesses, companies, foundations and organisations to fund the surgeries and train the local medical staff in developing countries.
Additionally, despite the fact that we work diligently to gather donations and use volunteers for medical trips, there are administrative expenses incurred as with any business or nonprofit organization. These expenses include staff salaries, office operations maintenance and mission-related expenses, such as shipping essential materials and occasionally buying medical supplies and medication.
The only limitation in the number of children’s lives we can save is the ability to fund more trips to perform surgeries and train local medical teams.
How much does a child’s heart surgery cost?
In developing countries the cost of an ICHF heart surgery vary based upon:
- Size of the medical team
- Lodging for the medical team members
- Transportation for medical team members
- Medical supplies and equipment that has been donated for a trip
However, the typical mission trip costs around $50,000, assuming medical supplies are donated. During a two-week trip the medical team typically operates on 20 children, which calculates to an average cost of $3,500 per child. If you compare this to the average cost of one surgery in the US ($30,000), ICHF surgeries are 83 percent less expensive.
