- Nov 9, 2018
- 2 min read

Save a Child’s Heart Visits AU

Announcement by Jessica Horst

On Thursday, November 15, Israel’s largest international nonprofit, Save a Child’s Heart, will be sharing their story with the AU community.

The goal, “to improve the health and welfare of all children, regardless of the child's nationality, religion, color, gender or financial situation,” has guided the organization since foundation in 1995 by Dr. Ami Cohen. Dedicated to the “mission of improving the quality of pediatric cardiac care for children in developing countries and creating centers of competence in these countries,” the organization has saved the lives of more than 4,800 children from 57 countries in Africa, South America, Europe, Asia, and throughout the Middle East. To date, Save a Child’s Heart has also trained more than 120 medical team members from these countries.

Half of the children treated by Save a Child’s Heart are Palestinian children, from the West Bank and Gaza. Twenty to thirty children arrive at Wolfson Medical Center every Tuesday , with their parents, to be examined by Save a Child’s Heart physicians. The children are accompanied by doctors from Gaza and the West Bank, who come to work in the clinic with their Israeli partners.

There are currently 30 children in Israel, originally from Ethiopia, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Romania, the West Bank, Gaza, Myanmar, and Fiji, recovering from or waiting for heart surgery administered by Save a Child’s Heart. The organization is also currently training 10 doctors and nurses from Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, and the Palestinian Authority at Wolfson.

This year, Save a Child’s Heart won the 2018 UN Population award,in recognition of its “outstanding achievements in population and health.” This marked the first time that an Israeli organization received the prestigious UN award. Ghana chairs the UN Population Award Committee, which includes Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Benin, Gambia, Haiti, Israel, Paraguay, Poland, and Iran. The award was presented to the three physicians who lead the non-profit, Dr. Lior Sasson, Dr. Akiva Tamir, and Dr Sion Houri.

The Save a Child’s Heart is also building a new Children’s Hospital at the Wolfson Medical Center that will house the Middle East’s first International Pediatric Cardiac Care Center. The center will enable Save a Child’s Heart to treat more children and train more doctors from developing countries.

Join AU TAMID, co-hosted by AU Hillel and CIS, for an introduction to Save a Child’s Heart, followed by a social impact and Q&A discussion with Save a Child’s Heart International Young Leadership Direct Brianna Fowler.

Please RSVP via the Facebook event.