WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th July, 2021) A US-based group of international pediatric cardiologists plan to conduct a second trip to Russia in August to operate on children with complex heart issues, organization leader Bill Novick told Sputnik.
"Our colleagues from the Siberian city of Kemerovo have asked us to be back from August 21 to September 4," said Novick, who leads William Novick Global Cardiac Alliance.
From 2008-2013, Novick's team made 13 trips to Kemerovo where they operated on 152 children and raised the level of surgery to complex neonatal repairs.
"However, in 2019 the surgeon we trained moved to another city, and we were asked to return to help another surgeon achieve a similar level of competency in complex surgery for children. We are happy to help our colleagues in Kemerovo to return to providing surgery at this level," Novick said. "Our plan is to continue the program until our colleagues achieve the level of complex operations they want to reach."
The entire schedule of the upcoming trip is not ready yet, but in general Novick's team operates on 10-15 patients each two-week long trip, including half of them with complicated issues and others with less serious problems.
The group may develop another project in Russia in the near future, Novick said.
"We are always looking to help our colleagues in Russia," Novick said. "I have a new group supporting work in Russia, and they want to talk to me."
Novick and his colleagues have conducted more than 400 surgeries in Russia since 2008. The Novick Cardiac Alliance comprises a group of medical specialists from different countries who usually work in different "hot spots" around the world. Previously, the group has performed surgeries in several Russian cities, including Voronezh and Nizhny Novgorod.
