Children’s hearts in reliable hands

September 9, 2011

On September 5-9, at Tashkent’s Salus Vita medical center a prominent Russian heart surgeon, Viktor Dovgan, examined 99 children with inborn heart disease and 15 children previously operated on at a St. Petersburg hospital. Based on the medical checkup results, 11 children with grave conditions have been selected for free treatment in St. Petersburg (Russia). The charitable campaign was held as part of the Family Health Project overseen by the Fund Forum and the Women’s Council with support from the Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan.

September 5, the first day of the campaign, featured a roundtable focusing on issues in diagnostics and treatment of newborns with inborn heart disease. Specifically, the session focused on: the treatment of the open arterial duct; interrupted aortic arch and the Norwood procedure among others.

In Tashkent, Viktor Dovgan examined children at Salus Vita clinic and visited the Institute of Chest Surgery, children hospital No5 (which was recently reconstructed by Mehr Nuri foundation) and the cardiology department of Tashkent Pediatrics Institute, where he could see and evaluate the treatment of children with heart disease. During checkups, each lasting roughly 20 minutes, the doctor examined the diagnosis and provided recommendations for further treatment and system rehabilitation.

Viktor Dovgan, cardiologist, Children’s Hospital No1, St. Petersburg:

“I’m very glad to have been invited to Uzbekistan and I can see that Uzbekistan boasts a very high level of heart disease treatment. I had great conversations with Uzbek colleagues here as we could understand each other very well at professional level and I’m also happy with the way the event was organized. Despite the large number of patients everything went without a hitch and we managed to pay enough attention to each of them. I hope that this project is just the beginning of a fruitful collaboration and it will become a traditional event.”

The primary goal of the child heart care week is to organize medical checkups for little patients and consultations with their parents and provide correct diagnoses. Based on the checkup results, eleven children found to be in need of urgent treatment will be sent for further treatment in St. Petersburg.

Note: Viktor Stanislavovivh Dovgan is a surgeon with the heart surgery department at Children’s Hospital No1 in St.Petersburg. After completing postgraduate medical studies in 1987, he was hired to work at Children’s Hospital No1. He made a considerable contribution to the establishment of the heart surgery department where he has worked since its creation. Dovgan has the ultimate qualification category in heart surgery and a certificate in ultrasound diagnostics. He has authored over 40 published works.

The Health Family Project was launched by the Women’s Council in conjunction with partners in 2009. The project sees professionals from abroad come to Uzbekistan and provide consultations and lead training sessions geared for Uzbek doctors. Over 5,000 patients have been examined and over 250 local specialists have attended training sessions since the project was launched. There are plans afoot to expand the geography of the project participants and involve staff from leading health centers in the efforts to help improve Uzbek doctors’ skills and to support local medical services.