Fundación Cardioinfantil - Instituto de Cardiología

As the Director of the Congenital Heart Institute on Fundación Cardioinfantil, I´ve had the opportunity to experience the effort and contribution of the Institution to the families of the country, and it is my passion to carry on the legacy of our founders. As a reference center in the health sector, the Fundación Cardioinfantil has expertise in medical and psychosocial care, and under a philosophy of solidarity through the social program, we are able to provide options to improve the life quality of patients and families who need integral support, contributing to the construction and development of the country. It is satisfactory on a professional and personal level to be able to work to provide life expectancy to children who have a future ahead of them, providing peace of mind to their families.

With the prize, the program will be able to cover the cost associated to comprehensive treatment and care of minors, which includes: medical care, intervention or procedure, hospital stay, supplies, medicines, required equipment and medical devices, psychosocial support, transportation, accommodation and food.

The dream of our founders, Doctors Reinaldo and Camilo Cabrera Polanía, was to create in Colombia an institution of the highest scientific and human quality that would provide free care, diagnosis and treatment to the most vulnerable child population with heart disease in our country, after they noticed that some children didn’t have access to health services to treat their diseases, one of the most frequent cause of death for infants and minors, therefore, they started an humanitarian work since the creation of the Fundación Cardioinfantil in 1973.

From a general perspective, the model of the social program reflects the shared social value, where the sum of the wills of private and public allies, allows a positive impact both in the pediatric cardiological diagnosis, as well as in the recovery not only of the patient's health but of the entire family nucleus. That’s why, regardless of the current situation worldwide, patients who need priority medical care travel to the Foundation (with the support of Give a Life) to carry out detailed examinations and receive the required intervention or surgical procedure, continuing our medical and social work.

Worldwide, the Congenital Heart Diseases (CHD) accounts for nearly one-third of all congenital birth defects, which means that it is important to reduce the incidence of this health issue to prevent fatal outcomes. In Colombia, approximately 5,000 children are born with congenital heart diseases, of which 3.500 need interventions or surgical procedures, without including those who have not been treated before. For this reason, the social program “Give a Life” focuses on providing first, diagnosis to the pediatric population of the country through medical brigades, and then, a second chance at life to children and adolescents who due to their scarce resources cannot access timely to quality health care services.

Once the diagnosis phase begins (free medical brigades), a team composed of pediatric cardiologists, nurses, pediatricians, social workers and administrative staff, who also transport biomedical equipment, who work together to achieve the expert diagnosis along with an important group of volunteers who join the local allies to make everything a success. During this phase, a classification of patients is established, those who require some type of procedure are guided according to their affiliation to health networks, and when necessary (according to the analysis of the socioeconomic conditions of the families) the legal representative of each patient is oriented to enter the program, and then for the arrival process to the Fundación Cardioinfantil in order for each minor to receive treatment for their illness and reduce the risk of morbidity and mortality.

Once the families arrive to Bogotá, comprehensive treatment and care is guaranteed, which includes: medical care, intervention or procedure, psychosocial support, transportation, accommodation and food.

All the Institutional effort is permanently derived in clinical excellence with the highest standards, combined with solidarity to continue the fulfillment of the Institutional mission, also maintaining the positioning acquired over the years at a national and international level for clinical excellence, humanized care and the improvement of the health and well-being of patients and their families, hence the consistency with the strategic organizational objectives.

Till the date, and throughout the existence of the program, more than 54,213 children have been diagnosed in different regions of Colombia through free pediatric cardiology brigades, and 16,371 minors have received the treatment that each required in the Fundación Cardioinfantil located in Bogota.