CMs Relief Fund & Fortis Foundation supports treatment of children with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) at Fortis Hospital, Mulund

In a heartwarming move, the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Relief Fund has extended financial aid to Project Aasha today for treatment of children with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) from underprivileged sections of the society at the Fortis Hospital, Mulund. The initiative by Chief Ministers Relief Fund, Fortis Hospital, Mulund and Fortis Foundation’s UMEED-Dhadkan aims at treating hundreds of children suffering from CHD. The children will be treated by Dr Vijay Agarwal, Chief Paediatric Cardiac Surgery, Fortis Hospital, Mulund.

Twenty children accompanied by their parents from Palghar and Malegaon in Maharashtra are going to be the first batch to be treated under this initiative. The noble ingenuity drew strong support from Shri Praveen Pardeshi IAS, Principal Secretary, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Abhijeet Bangar IAS, Collector, Palghar District, Dr Mohan Jadhav, Director of State Health Services, Maharashtra, Shri Omprakash Shete, Chief, Chief Minister’s Medical Assistance Cell, Maharashtra, Dr Kanchan Vanera, Civil Surgeon, Palghar, Dr S Narayani, Zonal Director, Fortis Healthcare along with Dr Vijay Agarwal, Chief of Paediatric Cardiac Surgery, Fortis Hospital, Mulund.

The Chief Minister's Relief Fund provides financial assistance to the people of the state who are affected by the major natural calamities like flood, drought, fire accident etc. and to the economically weaker sections for treatment of some of the major diseases. Fortis Foundation which works towards providing healthcare service for children from underprivileged section of the society suffering from CHD and who may not have access to quality healthcare, have extended financial and medical aid to Project Aasha.

Shri Praveen Pardeshi IAS, Principal Secretary, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, said, “Chief Minister's Relief Fund aims at providing immediate relief to the people in distress due to natural calamities and treatment of major illness. ‘Project Aasha’ does just that by providing financial aid to children from disempowered backgrounds, who suffer from Congenital Cardiac Diseases, which would be corrected by Cardiac Surgeons from Fortis Hospital, Mulund. This brings us one step closer in ensuring a healthy future for the children of the state.”

It is to be noted that Dr Vijay Agarwal along with his team successfully conducted Maharashtra’s first Paediatric heart transplant in 2016. So far, the team has done six Paediatric heart transplants and all of them are leading a normal healthy life and has successfully operated on over 2000 children suffering from CHD.

Speaking on this compassionate deed, Dr Vijay Agarwal, Head of Paediatric Cardiac Surgery, Fortis Hospital, Mulund, said, “Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) is an important health issue among children. However, with timely action and treatment, this condition can be corrected and the child can live a normal life. However, many a time, either due to lack of awareness or due to resource crunch, many families fail to get their children treated with sad consequences. Project Aasha is a noble initiative to provide treatment to children from the underprivileged section of our society.”

Dr S. Narayani, Zonal Director, Fortis Hospital, Mulund, said, “With support from Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, Project Aasha has become a reality today. We are humbled that our team of world renowned doctors will be treating these deserving children suffering from CHD. We, at Fortis, always strive towards world class medical care with best patient care. These children will not only be treated by the best but they will also receive best possible care at our hospital before they are discharged to lead a normal life. Let Project Aasha become ray of hope for all those children with CHD towards a brighter future.”  

Mr Jasbir Grewal, Head, Fortis Foundation said, “Under the UMEED program at Fortis Foundation, our objective is to provide need-based healthcare programmes for children from marginalized sections of the society who don’t have access to quality healthcare. The surgeries required to treat children suffering from Congenital Heart Defect are unaffordable for those with limited financial resources. UMEED- Dhadkan ensures that through timely medical interventions and post-operative care, children can lead a functional, healthy and unfilling life”. 

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