title: Paediatric cardiac surgery in low-income and middle-income countries: a continuing challenge.
abstract: Despite advances in surgical and catheter-based treatment for congenital heart disease (CHD), there remain wide disparities across the globe. Ongoing international humanitarian and in-country programmes are working to address these issues with the ultimate goal to increase the quality and quantity of paediatric cardiac care, particularly in under-served regions of the world. This review aims to illustrate the reasons for these inequalities and suggests novel ways of improving access and sustainability of CHD programmes in low-income and middle-income countries.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA Division of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Nguyenvu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: CEDIMET, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Leon-Wyss
authors.affiliation: Pediatric & Congenital Heart Surgery, Fortis-Escorts Heart Institute, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Krishna S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Iyer
authors.affiliation: International Children's Heart Fund, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: A Thomas
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Pezzella
mesh_terms: D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures; D002648:Child; D003906:Developing Countries; D014943:Global Health; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D010372:Pediatrics; D011203:Poverty; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Cardiac Surgery; Global Health; Health Service