Introduction
Cardiovascular diseases represent the leading cause of death in the entire world.
Most of them occur in low-income/underdeveloped countries, such as Honduras, located in the heart of Central America, where, despite there is a high prevalence of these diseases, the lack of medical services to treat them is greater.
In this case, cardiac surgery and interventional cardiology services are among the most lacking in our country. These services require the joint effort of highly specialized personnel, as well as the use of supplies that can be very costly for patients.
Due to these factors, the development of these specialties has been very limited in the country despite the existence of individuals with adequate training in different areas.
Why Open Heart Honduras was founded
An extremely low number of adult heart surgeries are currently performed in Honduras for the size of our population.
According to data from international organizations, a country like ours would need approximately between 30 and 40 heart surgeries per 100,000 habitants each year to meet its needs.
In contrast, since the COVID-19 pandemic, less than 5% of this number has been performed annually.
“Open Heart Honduras” was created due to the evident necessity to address this situation, as a cooperation initiative between doctors specializing in the areas of cardiology and cardiovascular surgery based in Honduras and the United States.
Seeking to establish a cardiovascular program of excellence at the National Cardiopulmonary Institute "Chest Hospital" (part of the public healthcare system) in Tegucigalpa, the capital city of Honduras.
Our goals
The objective of the program is to establish a high-quality self-sustainable program at the end of a period of 5-6 years through two main axes:
Training of local staff
Creation of a long-term financial assistance program to maintain an adequate volume of heart surgeries.
Having as its main component a series of annual visits to the “Chest Hospital” by surgical teams from the University of Utah, during which adult heart surgeries will be performed jointly with Honduran staff.
These visits will serve as a foundation for the exchange of professional knowledge as well as for improving the infrastructure and capacity of the local program in Tegucigalpa.
Honduran surgeons will also undertake stays at the University of Utah, where they will acquire cutting-edge knowledge to apply in the country.
