Sumaiya, a seven-month-old baby from Zanzibar, has spent two months in Israel receiving lifesaving heart treatment and is preparing to return home. She is one of thousands of children from 75 countries helped by Save a Child’s Heart (SACH).
On Friday, she was with her smiling mother, Mwanahamis, at the Israeli President’s Residence, when President Isaac Herzog welcomed diplomatic representatives from Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, France, Kenya, Malawi, the Netherlands, Rwanda, Somaliland, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia, along with medical professionals and supporters of the Israeli humanitarian organization as it marked 30 years of providing cardiac care to children from countries where such treatment is limited or unavailable.
Herzog expressed support for the organization and his desire to nominate it for the Nobel Peace Prize. SACH has already received international recognition, including the United Nations Population Award in 2018, becoming the first Israeli organization to receive the honor.
Founded in 1995, SACH provides free, lifesaving treatment to children with congenital and rheumatic heart disease, regardless of their nationality, religion, gender or financial circumstances. Its work combines treatment in Israel with overseas medical missions and training programs designed to help countries develop their own pediatric cardiac expertise.
SACH Chairman Robert Baruch told the audience filling the main hall that one in every 100 children is born with a heart defect.
A dream that began with two children
The organization’s origins can be traced to Dr. Amram “Ami” Cohen, an American-Israeli cardiac surgeon at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, south of Tel Aviv.
Cohen was approached by an Ethiopian cardiologist, Dr. Belay Abegaze, seeking help for two children who urgently needed heart surgery. He arranged for them to travel to Israel, secured the hospital’s cooperation, and found a place for them to recover. In the early days, Cohen’s parents’ home served as a recuperation center. He then arranged for the children to stay in an apartment in Netanya with nurses caring for them, because the hospital could not accommodate patients and families.
Raising approximately $10,000 to help the first child, Cohen began building what would become an international humanitarian initiative.
His guiding principle was simple: “If we can, we should.”
Rabbi Reuben Landman, rabbi emeritus of Har Tzeon-Agudath Achim, a congregation in Silver Spring, Md., recalled the initial days of Cohen’s work to JNS. The Cohen family attended his synagogue when they were in the United States. Landman was involved with the small circle of supporters who helped the surgeon realize his vision.
Cohen had been traveling with his son and had taken a side trip to Mount Kilimanjaro while evaluating children in Tanzania and Kenya for treatment.
His death could have ended the initiative. Instead, the medical team at Wolfson continued the work with international supporters, expanding the mission in his memory.
Healing children, training doctors
In the past three decades, the organization has treated more than 9,000 children from a total of 75 countries, while training medical professionals to build sustainable pediatric cardiac care in their own communities.
Children who cannot receive the necessary treatment at home are brought to the Save a Child’s Heart International Pediatric Cardiac Center at Wolfson Medical Center. They receive life-saving operations or catheterization procedures, while patients and caregivers stay at a dedicated Children’s Home.
SACH also sends medical teams abroad to screen children, diagnose heart conditions, perform procedures and work alongside local clinicians. Its training programs bring surgeons, cardiologists, anesthesiologists, nurses and other medical professionals to Israel to gain advanced skills.
The long-term goal is not simply to save individual lives but to enable countries to treat more children independently. SACH has helped train pediatric cardiac surgeons in countries including Ethiopia and Tanzania and supported the development of cardiac-care capacity in several nations.
The organization has successfully treated children from the region, including children from Gaza during the Second Intifada and throughout periods of conflict. Its work demonstrates how medical care can create practical cooperation even when political circumstances are difficult.
Treating one child can cost approximately $15,000, including medical care, travel and accommodation. Private philanthropy and international fundraising make it possible for families who could not otherwise afford treatment.
Among the supporters at the President’s Residence was Roger Adelman, executive chair and trustee of Lifeline 4 Kids, a British children’s charity that has supported SACH for more than 20 years by donating medical equipment.
Established in 1961 as the Handicapped Children’s Aid Committee, the organization adopted its current working name in 2000.
Sylvan Adams, the Canadian-Israeli philanthropist whose support has helped advance pediatric medical facilities at Wolfson, became involved after witnessing heart surgery firsthand. Seeing the work convinced him to support the hospital and its children’s services. His aspirations for SACH extend beyond its current reach. He said he has a “dream of a future in which Iranian children” receive treatment through the organization.
The organization’s work reaches beyond the operating room. For the families, a successful procedure means the possibility of returning home with a child who can grow, play and live a healthier life. For the doctors trained in Israel, it means carrying knowledge and experience back to communities where pediatric cardiac specialists may be scarce.
Three decades, and a future to build
The milestone anniversary highlighted the people behind the numbers: the surgeons and medical staff, many of whom donate their time; the families who care for children far from home; the donors who provide equipment and funding; and the international medical professionals who will carry their training into the future.
As Simon Fisher, executive director of SACH, said, “What an extraordinary way to celebrate 30 years of Save a Child’s Heart. I couldn’t imagine a more meaningful way to mark this milestone than under the roof of the President’s Residence, alongside President Isaac Herzog and first lady Michal Herzog, bringing together Israeli doctors, African doctors from across the continent who are being trained in Israel, our young patients from around the world, ambassadors from across Africa, philanthropists, board members and supporters of SACH.
“It was incredibly moving to hear President Herzog speak about his visit to Zambia last November and meeting one of our patients, describing it as one of the most beautiful and meaningful experiences that makes him proud of being Israeli.” For SACH, the mission remains rooted in Cohen’s conviction that the ability to save a life brings with it a responsibility to act.
The seven-month-old baby preparing to leave Israel was one small illustration of what that conviction has made possible.
Six-year-old Shalom Nyaluge from Malawi was there with her mother, Nelesi Nyaluge. Also present was Miracle Nkanda, the 9,000th child saved by Save a Child’s Heart.
Thirty years after Cohen responded to a request for help for two Ethiopian children, Save a Child’s Heart continues to turn a surgeon’s simple principle into a global commitment: When a child’s life can be saved, borders should not stand in the way.
