Caribbean Heart Menders provides life-saving surgery for children in need as well as helps train medical professionals and develop local hospitals to be able to treat patients on their own.

We are a team of medical professionals and philanthropists who volunteer our time and talents to help children in third world Caribbean countries who were born with congenital heart defects.

We hope you will join our team and help save the lives of children who have nowhere else to turn.  

Caribbean Heart Menders Association (CHMA) is a non-profit organization, based in South Florida, whose primary objective is to provide cardiac surgery for children in the Caribbean who are affected by congenital and acquired heart defects.

Since our establishment in 1994, we have provided over 200 life-saving heart surgeries for caribbean children who otherwise would not have received such surgeries. We reach to many who would otherwise die, and heal their hearts with the miracles of heart surgery.

Our efforts span the Caribbean areas, nurtured by our compassion for those needy children with defective hearts for whom treatment is not otherwise available. Each child whose future we restore is a tribute to humanity as well as a building block in the bridges of friendship, peace, and love among the peoples of the United States and their Caribbean neighbors.

Our Projects

• Facilitate multidisciplinary teams to the Caribbean to provide life-saving surgeries to children affected by congenital heart disease.

• Assist in the the development and establishment of pediatrics heart surgery centers in Caribbean countries.

• Provide education and training in the field of pediatric heart surgery for physicians in Caribbean countries.

• Serve as a liaison between existing Caribbean heart surgery programs and programs in the United States.

• Generate funds through fundraising activities and donations to provide assistance in the cost of heart surgery for Caribbean children.

• Facilitate and mediate as cultural liasons to those brought to the United States for heart surgery.

• Create awareness of the existence and availability of our services.

The CHMA scholarship fund was established in 2003 to provide finacial assistance to qualified candidates who are pursuing a career in a healthcare related field. Each year a special committe from CHMA selects a candidate from one of the Caribbean countries. The winner for 2004 was Zeromeh Campbell, from Jamaica. 

According to the March of Dimes, congenital heart defects are the #1 birth defect. In the US alone, over 25,000 babies are born each year with a congenital heart defect. That translates to 1 out of every 115 to 150 births. (To put those numbers into perspective, only 1 in every 800 to 1,000 babies is born with Downs Syndrome.)

Sometimes the defect is so mild that there are no outward symptoms. Some heart defects are simply innocent murmurs which resolve on their own. In other cases, it's so severe that the newborn becomes ill soon after birth. In still other cases, signs and symptoms occur only in later childhood. Severe heart defects often require multiple surgeries, a lifetime of medications and preventative measures to maintain a working heart and a healthy body. For some people, their only hope is a heart transplant.

Statistics

According to the American Heart Association, heart defects accounted for 31.4% of all birth defect related deaths in 1992. From 1986 to 1996 death rates for congenital cardiovascular defects declined 18.2 percent. It is estimated that 300,000 children under age 21 will have congenital cardiovascular disease by 1996; 38% of them will have had one or more surgical procedures. As more children's heart abnormalities are successfully treated, research is needed to meet the medical needs of heart defect patients when they reach adulthood.

At least one-half million children in the U.S. have some form of cardiac problem (excluding high blood pressure). There are approximately one million people alive with congenital heart defects today. (AHA) Heart defects can be part of a wider pattern of birth defects. More than one-third of children with Down syndrome have heart defects. (March of Dimes)

According to the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) in 1997 there were 277 hearts transplanted in children between 0 and 17 years of age. In 1998 70 7 children from 0-17 were listed with UNOS for a heart transplant. In 1998 265 heart transplants were performed.

Source: Congenitalheartdefects.com