Congenital heart defects are common and deadly, yet CHD research is grossly under-funded relative to the prevalence of the disease. CHD needs more exposure in the media and overall awareness among the public. Today was Lobby Day for CHD in Washington DC. You can read more about it here.
More CHD facts to share with you...
*In the US, twice as many children die due to CHDs than that of all forms of childhood cancers combined. Yet funding for pediatric cancer research is 5 times higher than for CHD.
*91,000 life years are lost each year in this country due to CHD's.
*More than 50% of all children born with a CHD will require at least one invasive surgery in their lifetime.
*Statistics today show that due to misdiagnosis, lack of knowledge and awareness, and complications of surgery...about 51% of deaths caused by CHD are children under the age of 1 year.
*The cost of inpatient surgery alone for CHDs exceeds $2.2 billion dollars per year.
*The count for open-heart surgeries just on children under fifteen years old is 25,000 annually.
*The American Heart Association directs only $0.30 of every dollar donated toward research. The remainder goes toward administration, education and fundraising efforts. Of the $0.30 that goes toward research only $0.01 goes toward pediatric cardiology for CHD.
*Of every dollar the government spends on medical funding only a fraction of a penny is directed toward Congenital Heart Defect research.
1 comment:
Fantastic information! I didn't know some of those facts. We're trying to get Owen's story on the news this week to raise awareness of not only CHD's but Organ Donation!
I am always amazed at how fantastic Maddie is doing!
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