Herzog backs ‘Save a Child’s Heart’ at 30 years

Sumaiya, a 7-month-old baby from Zanzibar, has spent two months in Israel receiving lifesaving heart treatment and is pre-paring to return home. She is one of more than 9,000 children from 75 countries helped by Save a Child’s Heart (SACH).

She was with her smiling mother, Mwanahamis, at the Presi-dent’s Residence in Jerusalem when President Isaac Herzog wel-comed diplomatic representatives from Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, France, Kenya, Malawi, the Netherlands, Rwanda, Somaliland, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia. They were joined by medical professionals and supporters of the Israeli humanitarian organization, which is marking 30 years of provid-ing cardiac care to children from countries where such treatment is limited.

Also present were 6-year-old Shalom Nyaluge from Malawi, with her mother, Nelesi Nyaluge, and Miracle Nkanda, the 9,000th child saved by SACH.

Herzog said he wants to nominate the organization for the No-bel Peace Prize. In 2018, SACH became the first Israeli organiza-tion to receive the United Nations Population Award.

Founded in 1995, SACH provides free treatment to children with congenital and rheumatic heart disease, regardless of na-tionality, religion, gender or financial circumstances. SACH Chair-man Robert Baruch told the audience filling the main hall that one in every 100 children is born with a heart defect.

The organization traces its origins to Dr. Amram “Ami” Cohen, an American-Israeli cardiac surgeon at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, south of Tel Aviv.

When an Ethiopian cardiologist, Dr. Belay Abegaze, sought help for two children who urgently needed heart surgery, Cohen ar-ranged for them to travel to Israel, secured the hospital’s cooper-ation and found a place for them to recover. Because the hospital could not accommodate patients and families, his parents’ home first served as a recuperation center; later the children stayed in an apartment in Netanya with nurses caring for them.

Raising approximately $10,000 to help the first child, Cohen be-gan building what would become an international humanitarian initiative. His guiding principle was simple: “If we can, we should.”

Rabbi Reuben Landman, rabbi emeritus of Har Tzeon-Agudath Achim in Silver Spring, Md., where the Cohen family attended syn-agogue when they lived in the United States, told JNS he was part of the small circle of supporters who helped the surgeon realize his vision.

In 2001, while evaluating children in Tanzania and Kenya for treatment, Cohen took a side trip with his son to Mount Kiliman-jaro, where he died. His death could have ended the initiative. In-stead, the medical team at Wolfson continued the work with in-ternational supporters, expanding the mission in his memory.

Children who cannot receive treatment at home are brought to the Save a Child’s Heart International Pediatric Cardiac Center at Wolfson for lifesaving operations or catheterization procedures, while patients and caregivers stay at a dedicated Children’s Home. Treating one child can cost approximately $15,000, including medical care, travel and accommodation, made possible by pri-vate philanthropy and international fundraising.

SACH also sends medical teams abroad to screen children, diag-nose heart conditions, perform procedures and work alongside local clinicians, and brings surgeons, cardiologists, anesthesiolo-gists, nurses and other medical professionals to Israel for ad-vanced training. The long-term goal is to enable countries to treat more children independently; SACH has helped train pediatric cardiac surgeons in countries including Ethiopia and Tanzania.

The organization has also treated children from Gaza, including during the Second Intifada and other periods of conflict, demon-strating how medical care can create practical cooperation even when political circumstances are difficult.

Among the supporters at the President’s Residence was Roger Adelman, executive chair and trustee of Lifeline 4 Kids, a British children’s charity established in 1961 that has donated medical equipment to SACH for more than 20 years.

Sylvan Adams, the Canadian-Israeli philanthropist whose sup-port has helped advance pediatric medical facilities at Wolfson, became involved after witnessing heart surgery firsthand. He said he has a “dream of a future in which Iranian children” receive treatment through the organization.

Simon Fisher, SACH’s executive director, said, “I couldn’t imag-ine a more meaningful way to mark this milestone than under the roof of the President’s Residence, alongside President Isaac Her-zog and first lady Michal Herzog, bringing together Israeli doctors, African doctors from across the continent who are being trained in Israel, our young patients from around the world, ambassadors from across Africa, philanthropists, board members and support-ers of SACH.

“It was incredibly moving to hear President Herzog speak about his visit to Zambia last November and meeting one of our pa-tients, describing it as one of the most beautiful and meaningful experiences that makes him proud of being Israeli.”

Thirty years after Cohen responded to a request for help for two Ethiopian children, Save a Child’s Heart continues to turn a surgeon’s simple principle into a global commitment: When a child’s life can be saved, borders should not stand in the way. —JNS