Local Heart Surgeon Honoured with Prestigious International Award Recognising Work Done to Save Lives of South African Children Born with Congenital Heart Disease

Guest: Dr. Wilhelm Lichtenberb, Founder of Young Hearts Africa

The work of Young Hearts Africa, established in 2021, has to date provided life-saving surgery for 30 children with congenital heart disease (CHD), in partnership with the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town. Over 4 000 of the 13 000 children born in South Africa with CHD need surgery in order to survive, but less than 800 of these operations actually take place in the public sector, given the dire lack of facilities and specialists, combined with the enormous costs involved. The Foundation works tirelessly to highlight the plight of these children and to raise funds to enable more life-saving surgeries to take place. Dr Wilhelm Lichtenberg, recently won a Thoracic Surgery Foundation Every Heartbeat Matters (EHM) Award. This award recognises the work done by those who conduct humanitarian surgical outreach work in underserved regions with indigent populations around the world. Of the fourteen global awards given, Dr Lichtenberg is the only African recipient.