Due to the incredible success over the past fifty years of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery, more and more children are surviving into adulthood; approximately 85%. There are more adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) than there are children and there is now an emerging crisis in the adult CHD population. These patients need ongoing follow-up and treatment throughout their lives and the adult clinics do not have the funds to cope with the increasing number of patients. Many CHD patients require as many as 4 or 5 surgical procedures during their lifetime and the funds are just not there to handle them. The Toronto Adult Congenital Cardiac Clinic [TACCC], which is the largest clinic of its kind in the world, has only enough resources to see 40% of its patients on an annual basis, and the cardiologists themselves have to "moonlight " as technicians in order to earn enough money for their families. This is a fact that is very hard to believe, but true.
To put the crisis in perspective, there are 45 times as many patients with CHD than there are with Cystic Fibrosis. There are more CHD patients than those with Down's Syndrome and Autism. CHD is the number one birth defect in the world! Due to funding and staffing issues, the Toronto General Hospital allots only one operating room a week for adult CHD surgeries. Due to our complex medical conditions, we average 10-15 hours per surgery and we take on average up to three times longer in ICU than a person with acquired heart disease [undergoing bypass etc.] .
The CCHA, which is comprised totally of congenital heart disease volunteer survivors and their families, are starting a "Fund a Fellow" campaign to help raise enough money for a Fellowship to help reduce the burden at the Toronto Adult Congenital Cardiac Clinic [TACCC]. Our goal is to raise $55,000.00 a year, which is the cost of one Fellowship. We are also hoping to raise $10,000.00 to $15,000.0 to help our organization grow. While we are starting with the Toronto Clinic, our plan is to help CCHA chapter organizations across Canada to help support thier local clinics. But, we need your help.
If you are interested in becoming involved with fundraising, please contact us at president@cchaonline.ca.
