A day for hearts: Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day

by Rosa Siles | Feb 14, 2019

Congenital Heart Disease is considered to be the most common birth defect, and is a leading cause of birth-defect related deaths worldwide.

The term “congenital heart defect” (CHD) refers to a defect in the structure of the heart and great vessels that is present at birth. About 9 of every 1000 children born alive have CHD. Some defects are so small that they do not require treatment. Sometimes CHD improves without treatment. However, in most cases CHD requires medications and/or surgery. Most patients with CHD need lifelong cardiac care.

Persei vivarium team honor and remember all people born with a heart defect and all of the families and friends touched by our heroic “heart” children. It is also a time to recognize the many medical professionals who take care of our heart children day in and day out and who conduct research which hopefully will cure or prevent heart defects in the future.

Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day was launched by Children’s Heart Society, a non-profit, charitable organization based in Canada that focuses on providing support to families of children with congenital and acquired heart disease. Other organizations, such as HeartKids (Australia) and Dr. Mani Children Heart Foundation (India) supported the initiative, and the observance has gone international.

CHD awareness day aims to educate people about congenital heart anomaly, raise public awareness through various advocacy programs and campaigns, and encourage donations to provide support and research into CHD.

Together for a bigger impact #bevivarium