75 children have received free surgeries so far as over 2,000 young patients were screened under the state-wide initiative.
The Government of Jharkhand and Amrita Hospital, Kochi are collaborating to provide free specialised cardiac treatment to children from the state. As part of the initiative, more than 2,000 children from Jharkhand have been screened so far, with 75 children undergoing free cardiac surgeries at the hospital. More screening camps are planned as part of a continuing statewide programme to identify children requiring specialised cardiac care.
Shashi Prakash Jha, IAS, Mission Director, National Health Mission (NHM), Jharkhand, on Saturday presented a plaque of gratitude to Amma in Amritapuri, recognising the Amrita Hospital’s contribution to the programme.
Under the collaboration, children diagnosed with congenital and acquired heart diseases will be referred for surgery and catheter-based interventions at Amrita Hospital. The programme also includes training healthcare personnel in Jharkhand in the early detection of congenital heart disease, along with joint monitoring and follow-up of patients.
“Thousands of children are evaluated through outreach programmes every year, and many of those requiring intervention receive treatment at Amrita Hospital free of cost. The collaboration with the Government of Jharkhand will help extend this care to more children across the state,” said Dr. R. Krishna Kumar, Head and Clinical Professor, Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Amrita Hospital, Kochi.
Dr. Brijesh P.K., Professor and Head, Department of Pediatric Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Amrita Hospital, and Shiv Prakash Bagaria, coordinator of the Amrita Jharkhand initiative, were also present.
Amrita Hospital has also entered into a similar MoU with the Government of Odisha to provide free cardiac care to children from the state.
In states like Jharkhand and Odisha, the dense overlap of deep multidimensional poverty and large tribal communities creates a severe healthcare crisis for children born with Congenital Heart Defects. Families in remote tribal belts often survive on subsistence agriculture and face high rates of maternal malnutrition, which increases the incidence of birth anomalies.
Because specialised pediatric cardiac centers are virtually non-existent in these rural districts, diagnostic delays are common, frequently causing simple structural heart defects to progress into irreversible, life-threatening conditions.
With a single corrective surgery costing anywhere from ₹2,00,000 to ₹5,00,000, pediatric heart care is financially impossible for these households, making completely free surgical intervention an urgent necessity.
Such partnerships between state governments and Amrita Hospital are vital in bridging this gap by waiving operation fees, funding door-to-door screening, travel, and post-operative care so that no family is driven into catastrophic debt to save their child’s life.
In terms of reach across the country, Amrita Hospital’s pediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery teams have performed around 32,500 surgeries and interventions in the last 25 years, of which nearly 24,300 were provided free or at subsidised rates.
