Effort Improves Success of Congenital Heart Surgery in Guatemala
The process of a developing country becoming a developed country is never a seamless one. Growing pains abound, and many times one area develops faster than another. The good thing, however, is many times a nation that has already gone through the development process can lend their knowledge, experience, and resources. Such is the case with an effort that began in 1997 to create a comprehensive program in Guatemala based around the pediatric cardiac surgical practices used in the United States.
Just because Guatemala is less developed than other countries doesn't mean severe medical issues don't exist. Young children have just as many heart diseases, but it was estimated in 1997 that less than 3 percent of those children had access to cardiac surgical care. It's sad to think how many children perished when a treatment program in a first-world country could have saved their life.
Part of the program involved bringing patients to the United States or other countries that could perform the cardiac surgery the children needed. Surgical teams from other countries also made trips to Guatemala to perform surgeries there.
While each of these measures help, it brings to mind an old adage. "Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime." What Guatemalan surgeons needed, in a sense, was to be taught how to fish.
The effort was successful in convincing the Guatemalan government to help fund the cardiovascular program, which has greatly increased the level of cardiac care received by Guatemalans, as well as those from neighboring countries who are referred to the program.
The program was also successful at decreasing the mortality rate for all cardiovascular surgery significantly, from 10% to 5.7%. Perhaps even more important, is a program like this spawns all sorts of positives. In addition to the lives saved, the knowledge of those in the cardiovascular program can be passed on to others. The success of the program may also prompt similar programs to sprout up in other third-world countries. And best of all, the program should inspire hope for those that felt they had none if they happened to be born with heart disease and face the looming specter of cardiovascular surgery.
Perhaps someday, surgeons in Guatemalan hospitals will be performing cutting-edge surgeries using the newest in technology. Maybe someday Guatemalan surgeons will be coordinating similar programs to teach surgeons in less-developed countries these procedures. They may make revolutionary discoveries that dramatically increases the effectiveness of their cardiac rehab program, or some breakthrough that we can't even understand given the landscape of medicine today. Whatever successes the medical professionals in Guatemala have in the future, they can be sure to help us all in some way, someday.
