How we work

How we work

Medical Camps- Saving a Child’s Heart Initiative is a charitable organization that provides aid to children with heart diseases. It is registered under society Registration Act of 2005. Donations to SACHi are exempt from income tax under section 80G. The efforts put in by SACHi and the work done so far has only been a beginning towards helping more children and giving them a healthy and normal life. Although it may be aspiring for the impossible to save all these children, SACHi is committed to save as many as possible.

Saving a Child’s Heart Initiative identifies children with heart diseases mainly through FREE SCREENING camps. A well equipped team of doctors and paramedical staff organizes small camps in different villages. They carry the basic screening devices including a portable echocardiogram and conduct free screening camps for children below 12 years of age. Apart from free screening camps in the society, any patient who walks into the hospital for screening is offered free / subsidized services based on the paying capacity.

In Andhra Pradesh the government has laid down a protocol where-in parents belonging to the lower socio-economic groups can approach government hospitals – pediatric cardiac cells that have been specially established to get their children evaluated. The parents are required to furnish their financial status from an appropriate Government authority i.e, the ration card etc to the cell and get their children evaluated. Post evaluation the children are referred by the hospital for further treatment to SACHi.

The following is a summary of our functioning and budgetary requirements :

• Once we receive the child from the government agency our team of specialists evaluate the child thoroughly and the necessary diagnostics are carried out. Most of the times the children are brought either in an emergency or with heart disease combined with other diseases like measles etc. The child is taken up for surgery depending on the evaluation.
• The services includes open heart and closed heart surgeries, interventional procedures and diagnostics (Click here to know more about pediatric cardiac diseases)
• Each individual child presents different clinical conditions. The surgery cost includes the consumables (items used in surgery) and pharmaceuticals used for each child. In highly complex cases valves and conduits are used that are very expensive. On an average open heart surgery costs Rs.1.5 lakhs to Rs.1.8 lakhs (US $4000 approximately) and a closed heart or interventional surgery costs Rs.80,000/- to 1 lakh (US $2500 approximately). In cases where conduit or valves are used the surgery cost goes up.

1. In Andhra Pradesh the funds required to cover the cost of the surgery will be borne by a combination of Saving a Child’s Heart initiative (SACHi), the government and Apollo Hospitals.
2. In states other than A.P the funds required to cover the cost of surgery will be borne by SACHi and Apollo Hospitals.
3. The donor component per surgery is Rs.30,000/-. (In Andhra Pradesh). Outside A.P as the Govt contribution is not available it differs for different surgeries.

• The complete package includes diagnostics/ surgery/ICU stay/preoperative and postoperative care/ consumables and drugs/ ward accommodation for the child and one attendant.
• The stay varies according to the surgery and the condition of the child. On an average for any open-heart surgery the preoperative period/ surgery and postoperative period is 10 days and for any other interventional procedures it is 6 days.
• Saving a Child’s Heart service partner Apollo Children’s Heart Hospital provides the in-house care of children.