WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th August, 2021) A US-based group of international pediatric cardiac surgeons is ready to visit Iraq later this year in order to conduct complex heart operations, but is currently awaiting to receive the needed visas to enter the country, the group's leader Bill Novick told Sputnik.
"We finally got the work done with the Iraqi government. They received all our passports on August 8 and confirmed to me that all documents were in the right hands," Novick said.
The team is still waiting to receive the requisite visas to enter Iraq, a process that usually takes about two weeks. The Novick Cardiac Alliance team's working visit is supposed to start on September 12 and will last about a month whereby each group of specialists will spend two weeks in Iraq.
"We will be working in the Najaf Cardiac Center. There will be a combination of surgeries with different levels of complexity," Novick said.
Novick explained that there are some 5,000 children who need heart operations. The Ministry of Health makes a roster of patients whom they would like to operate, and makes the final pick of 50-60 Names with different levels of complexity.
"It is not going to be just 50 or 60 children that show up. Some kids have recently acquired other diseases, like bronchitis, ear infections or have tested positive for COVID-19," Novick said.
The Novick Cardiac Alliance comprises a group of medical specialists from different states around the world who help develop pediatric cardiac care in low and middle-income countries.
